The lawsuit was filed by Whirlpool on 24 January against US-based Core Systems at the Ohio Northern District Court and is seeking to recover tooling equipment owned by the company.
It alleges that during a period of 10-weeks, Core failed to meet nine delivery times and forced Whirlpool to “shut down an entire line and send workers home, at considerable expense to Whirlpool.”
Local newspaper the Mansfield News Journal contacted Whirlpool to enquire as to, which part matters specifically related to the lawsuit but the company responded saying that it does not discuss the details of its supplier relationships.
The lawsuit however states that “as explicitly acknowledged in the agreement between Whirlpool and Core, Whirlpool is the owner of the tooling, and has the clear and unequivocal right to immediate possession of the tooling on demand.
“Core’s refusal to relinquish possession of the tooling constitutes a clear breach of the parties’ agreement, as well as unlawful conversion of Whirlpool’s property.”
The lawsuit also alleges that there were “extensive quality problems” in goods shipped, no communication that delivery deadlines would not be met. It also talks about mounting debts with money owed to six key suppliers and a demand by Core for Whirlpool to pay at least $250,000 “or else Core will immediately stop supplying Component Parts”.
Whirlpool refused these demands and begun looking to contract another supplier to carry out the work and began law proceedings to recover its tooling from Core.
