BR-111 (Medley, Fla.) is fighting back in its arbitration dispute with Triangulo (Curitiba, Brazil). At stake is nearly $1.6 million dollars an arbitration tribunal has ordered BR-111 to pay Triangulo for unpaid invoices, interest on those invoices and attorney's fees. Most recently, on Dec. 9, BR-111 asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to vacate, or waive, the tribunal's award.
BR-111 (Medley, Fla.) is fighting back in its arbitration dispute with Triangulo (Curitiba, Brazil). At stake is nearly $1.6 million dollars an arbitration tribunal has ordered BR-111 to pay Triangulo for unpaid invoices, interest on those invoices and attorney's fees. Most recently, on Dec. 9, BR-111 asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to vacate, or waive, the tribunal's award.
BR-111 said it asked the court to vacate the tribunal's award because the flooring it received from Triangulo-while the two companies were still business partners-was deficient, resulting in BR-111 paying out about $1.6 million in warranty claims. The warranty claims BR-111 paid on behalf of Triangulo have not been rectified, BR-111 said, and so BR-11 has withheld invoice payments from Triangulo.
The dispute started in October 2008. Until then, Triangulo was a private label supplier of engineered wood flooring for BR-111. In a Dec. 15 press release, BR-111 said that after the two companies severed ties, BR-111 ceased distributing any product under the Triangulo trademark. However, Doug Leigh, Triangulo's director of operations in North America, has said that even after the two companies split, BR-111 "continued branding product as Triangulo and sourcing it from other manufacturers." Leigh said this product was the one for which customers were submitting warranty claims.
The two companies agreed to engage in arbitration to resolve the dispute, and on Sept. 27 the tribunal found BR-111 owed the disputed amounts. Since then, however, BR-111 has not acted on the tribunal's decision, and on Nov. 15 Triangulo asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to enforce the tribunal's award, which BR-111 has now asked the court to vacate.
"We are saddened by the fact that what was once a flourishing relationship for both parties has come to this and are eager to work with Triangulo to rectify this matter in a timely manner," said Ricardo Moraes, president of BR-111.
