$101M Walmart verdict awarded over PPE contract breach

Walmart PPE verdict overview: 

• Who: A jury decided Walmart must pay $101 million to personal protection equipment supplier London Luxury LLC. 
• Why: London Luxury claimed Walmart reneged on a commitment to purchase more than $500 million worth of medical-grade nitrile examination gloves during the pandemic. 
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in Arkansas federal court. 

A federal jury in Arkansas delivered a multimillion-dollar Walmart verdict April 9 to put an end to claims the retail giant breached its contract with a personal protective equipment (PPE) supplier during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The retailer must pay $101 million to personal protection equipment supplier London Luxury, which had argued Walmart reneged on a commitment to purchase more than $500 million worth of medical-grade nitrile examination gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Law360. 

The jury delivering the Walmart verdict had to deliberate on why the retailer decided to cancel its contract with London Luxury in November 2021. The retailer argued it canceled the contract after independent product testing revealed some of the gloves failed inspection, and that the supplier took too long to deliver the gloves.  

Walmart reportedly also argued it had never made a minimum purchase agreement and maintained it was allowed to cancel the contract with London Luxury at any time before an individual Walmart PPE order was shipped. 

London Luxury, however, argued it had already fixed any issues with the gloves by the time Walmart chose to cancel the contract and that the retailer ended the Walmart PPE deal after deciding it would not actually be profitable for them, Law360 reports. 

Walmart verdict also includes $350,000 counterclaim award

Walmart was also awarded $350,000 as a result of tort counterclaims that its former sales director, Garret Small, violated his fiduciary duty with the company with London Luxury’s help, according to Law360. The retailer had claimed London Luxury bribed Small.

Walmart further claimed initial commitment letters signed by Small on behalf of the company in February and April 2021 did not constitute a valid and binding contract, as argued by London Luxury. 

In other news involving Walmart, the retailer has recently faced class action lawsuits, initiated a recall and agreed to a class action settlement. 

Do you believe Walmart breached its contract with the PPE supplier? What do you think of the Walmart verdict? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Brendon DeMay, Priyanka Timblo, Karen Sebaski, Jordan L. Pietzsch, Ian Miller and Benjamin Allen of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP, and Scott Richardson of McDaniel Wolff PLLC.

The Walmart PPE case is In re: London Luxury LLC v. Walmart Inc., Case No. 5:22-cv-05059, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

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