Former title sponsor of ROKiT sued Williams! British team allegedly fraudulently withheld information, how much is the company asking?

The former sponsor of the Williams stable, ROKiT, is suing the British team for a truly staggering amount of money. Specifically, it is said to be 149 million dollars and the reason is damage to the company’s reputation.

The ROKiT branding first appeared on Williams’ monoposts in 2019. However, the British stable removed the logos before the 2020 season began. Indeed, at a time when the whole world was hit by the coronavirus epidemic.

Williams stopped receiving payments from its title sponsor. The collaboration, which was originally supposed to last until 2023, was terminated prematurely.

Yes, the Grove stable eventually received a portion of the funding ($32 million) from ROKiT in connection with the early termination. Although it should be noted that the payment of the promised portion had to be decided by arbitration.

In any case, as reported by Racing News 365, following Williams’ successful victory in a lawsuit against its former title sponsor, ROKiT is now suing the team for $149 million.

In addition to the stable itself, ROKiT has also sued former members of the team. Specifically, then-team boss Claire Williams, former CEO Mike O’Driscoll and former CFO Doug Lafferty.

Now, the telecoms company has responded by claiming damages for damage to its corporate reputation, believing that Williams “fraudulently concealed” information about the inadequate budget for car development.

What does the lawsuit say?

The claim states that the arbitrator was unaware of this allegedly fraudulent conduct and that the information was only discovered after the arbitration.

The lawsuit goes on to say that ROKiT learned that “the car was never able to meet the standards that the defendants guaranteed to the plaintiffs, and that the defendants knew and concealed this fact,” again quoting the aforementioned server.

And as to the most significant part of the claim – “as a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ fraudulent representations, Plaintiffs suffered substantial financial losses and damage to their reputation and business reputation.”

Sources