Chattanooga Times Free Press

Ooltewah man wins $24.7 million judgment in lawsuit

Mike Pare

An Ooltewah man who sued a Chinese company and businessman over breach of contract and other allegations has won a $24.7 million judgment in a Hamilton County court.

The judgment, which included $20 million in punitive damages, is one of the largest verdicts in Hamilton County in recent years, said Chattanooga attorney Gary Patrick, who represented Benjamin L. Folkins of Ooltewah in the lawsuit heard by a jury last month.

The case, which was before Circuit Court Judge Kyle Hedrick, came after about four and a half years of litigation, court papers show.

Folkins had sued Healthcare Co. LTD, Healthcare Group (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, doing business as MLILY, along with Chinese national James Zhanggen Ni in 2017.

Folkins had developed his own brand of mattresses and bedding known as The Bed Boss, which specialized in creating shippable mattresses that could be compressed and rolled into packages, according to the suit.

Defendants had operated a memory foam and mattress factory in Hong Kong, the suit said, and Folkins took his designs to the Healthcare factory in China in 2009.

In 2011, Ni and Healthcare approached Folkins and said they wanted him to create a market for MLILY-branded bedding in the United States and make it well known, the suit said. Folkins and Healthcare agreed to form a new company, China Beds Direct, to be the exclusive distributor of MLILY product, the suit said.

But Folkins later discovered that Healthcare and Ni, its chief executive, were competing with China Beds Direct, the suit said.

In December 2016, Folkins gave notice to withdraw as a member of China Beds Direct, but there was an impasse over the price, the suit said.

Folkins then filed the lawsuit, said Patrick, who represented the Ooltewah man along with attorneys Susie Lodico and Cara Alday.

Knoxville attorney Philip Lomonaco, who represented Healthcare Co., said the defendants plan to appeal.

"The appeal process is starting up now," he said. "We think we have good grounds for appeal and reversal."

The jury also awarded a judgment of $1.23 million to China Beds against Upward Mobililty, doing business as Bed Boss, documents show.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

en

2021-09-02T21:45:27.0000000Z

2021-09-02T21:45:27.0000000Z

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2021/sep/02/ooltewah-mwins-247-millijudgment-lawsuit/553462/