A Florida federal judge has issued a report and recommended that a sales representative pay more than $19 million to resolve a contractual dispute with NuVasive, Inc., now a part of Globus Medical, Inc.
In the order and report and recommendation NuVasive Inc. is named as the plaintiff. The following are listed as defendants: Absolute Medical, LLC; Greg Soufleris; and Absolute Medical Systems, LLC.
NuVasive is a California-based medical device company. It develops devices and procedures for minimally invasive spinal surgery.
According to court documents, NuVasive sold its products in central Florida via an “exclusive distribution agreement with Absolute Medical, LLC, a company owned by Greg Soufleris.” Allegedly, before the end of the agreement, “Soufleris informed NuVasive that he was dissolving Absolute Medical and ending its business relationship with NuVasive.” Subsequently, Soufleris purportedly “started a new company, Absolute Medical Systems, LLC, which began selling products for one of NuVasive’s competitors.”
The litigation has been ongoing since 2017. The case history is extensive and according to the order and report and recommendation, over the course of litigation the parties have “engaged in extensive discovery and dispositive motions practice, arbitration proceedings and motions related thereto, a bankruptcy case and related stay, and interlocutory appellate proceedings.”
In 2023, according to court documents, a district judge found that the defendants “engaged in a course of ‘brazen, serious misconduct,’ to include numerous falsehoods, misrepresentations, intentional spoliation of evidence, and falsified testimony.” The defendants were sanctioned, and a default judgment was entered in favor of NuVasive as to all claims.
The order and report and recommendation was issued related to damages in the matter. The court awarded NuVasive a total of $19,361,057.00 in damages. Per court documents, the damages were broken down as follows: “$13,645,938.00 in lost profits under Delaware law for the breach of contract claims”; “$4,415,119.00 in pre-judgment interest under Delaware law for the breach of contract claims, with additional interest accruing daily at a rate of $2,524.00 through the entry of judgment”; and “$1,300,000.00 in attorneys’ fees and costs under Delaware law for the breach of contract claims.”
The parties have 14 days from the date of the report and recommendation to serve and file written objections. The written objections can apply to the report and recommendation’s factual findings and legal conclusions. As of January 27, 2025, no written objections had been filed.
The case is captioned NuVasive Inc. v. Absolute Medical LLC et al. It is case number 6:17-cv-02206 and was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
