A jury in the Iowa District Court awarded a verdict in favor of IronPlanet on all counts after finding that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers interfered with a contract between IronPlanet and its customer Scheckel Construction.
The jury found that Ritchie Bros. intentionally and improperly interfered with a valid April 2011 contract between IronPlanet and Scheckel Construction. The jury also concluded by clear, convincing and satisfactory evidence that the conduct of Ritchie Bros. reflected a willful and wanton disregard for the rights of IronPlanet, and that the conduct of Ritchie Bros. was specifically directed towards IronPlanet. The jury sided with IronPlanet on all points of its case with a multi-million dollar award in damages against Ritchie Bros.
“We are very pleased with the jury’s decision and their recognition of the strong evidence regarding Ritchie Bros.’ intentions to harm IronPlanet,” said Greg Owens, CEO of IronPlanet. “IronPlanet continues to demonstrate the value of our business model versus traditional land-based auctions and as evidenced by this case, Ritchie Bros. was willing to go to great lengths to compete against a business model and company that they view as a threat. We continue to offer the construction industry some of the best disposal solutions in the market, a wide breadth of global buyers and a lower cost to sell.”
