Pepsi loses $1.26 billion due to secretary error

Pepsi was being sued by some guys who claimed Pepsi stole his idea for bottling and selling water (umm..what). Unfortunately, Pepsi missed a court date. When you miss a court date, in some cases, a judge can hand out a summary judgment against you, which one judge did, costing $1.26 billion. Womp.

Two Wisconsin men sued PepsiCo in April alleging it stole the idea to bottle and sell purified water by misappropriating trade secrets from confidential discussions that occurred in 1981, The National Law Journal reports.

But, Law.com reports, PepsiCo is also asking the court to forgive the “corporate bureaucracy” that contributed to this debacle.

A letter from a co-defendant was sent to a Pepsi deputy general counsel on September 15, but his secretary was “so busy preparing for a board meeting,” she just put it aside.

And that was all that happened until October 5, when the same secretary received a copy of the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. The secretary then sent the letter to the relevant legal assistant, remembering the other letter and sending it along the next day. A company attorney “immediately” called for the complaint.

The damage award, however, had been assessed the week before.

Call me crazy, but I think that this secretary may have found herself in a bit of trouble. Best case scenario, she gets fired. Worst case scenario, held down on a table and forced to have undiluted Pepsi pouring onto herself, searing her skin, all the while being forced to watch old Max Headroom commercials. Or, God forbid, being forced to drink Mountain Dew.

[Business Insider]

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