By The Associated Press
Monday, November 21, 2011
Hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. said Monday that it was asked to pay $525 million in an arbitration case brought by rival Seagate Technology LLC.
Seagate alleged misappropriation of confidential information and trade secrets by Western Digital and one of its workers, a former Seagate employee, according to Western Digital.
But Western Digital said it acted properly at all times and will "vigorously challenge" the award, decided on Friday by an arbitrator in Minnesota.
The Irvine, Calif., company said that the arbitration decision does not impact its operations, its ability to close on its planned buyout of Hitachi GST or its plans to restart its Thailand operations.
