A federal judge has ordered IBM to pay BMC $1.6 billion for “intentional wrongdoing” when it poached mutual clients from the latter.
According to Bloomberg, IBM and BMC had an agreement that governed how they would operate, especially when it came to mutual clients. The agreement forbade IBM from trying to poach those clients, but BMC accused IBM of doing just that. In particular, BMC accused IBM of swapping out its software when servicing AT&T, their mutual customer. A judge agreed, fining IBM $1.6 billion.
IBM tried to claim that AT&T voluntarily dropped BMC and switched to its software on its own accord. If that were true, IBM claimed it would be allowed under the terms of the agreement. The judge didn’t buy IBM’s argument, saying its actions “smacked of intentional wrongdoing.”
US District Judge Gray Miller had harsh words for IBM, saying the company “believed — especially in light of BMC’s reluctance to engage in litigation — that it could ‘always settle for a small percentage of the claim’ or for ‘pennies on the dollar.’” The judge continued, saying “IBM’s conduct vis-à-vis BMC offends the sense of justice and propriety the public expects from American business.”