Sonrai Systems prevails in lawsuit

On June 30, a 12-member federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois awarded Sonrai Systems, an Illinois-based waste hauling industry technology developer, nearly $29 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages, ending a nine-year court battle that began in 2016 between the company and co-defendants Heil, a truck body manufacturer doing business as Environmental Solutions Group, and former Sonrai employee Anthony Romano.

Chris Flood of the Flood Bros. waste-hauling family owns Sonrai Systems, which accused the defendants of violating a contract through which the companies agreed to share confidential information to create Vector, a monitoring and tracking system for waste-hauling vehicles.

Romano resigned from Sonrai in 2006 after the company refused to grant him an ownership interest. He then worked with Heil to copy Sonrai’s technology, the complaint alleges. According to the complaint, Heil collaborated with Romano to use Sonrai's proprietary information to replicate Vector.

Raymond Niro, the plaintiff’s attorney, says the fact that this was a unanimous 12-member jury decision and not just the typical eight-member jury gives this verdict “extra weight.”

He adds that he would not be surprised if Heil appealed the decision; however, Niro describes the verdict as being strongly supported by the evidence.

While Sonrai still exists, Heil’s conduct damaged the company, Niro says, adding that the defendant stole a key employee and technology, which was followed by “brutal, crippling litigation.”

“It’s been difficult for Sonrai to do anything with its Vector product since this happened. The goal now is to get back into the business that they love and try to make the waste industry better through the use of technology,” he adds.

The Recycling Today Media Group reached out to a media representative for Heil but has not received a response.