Ontario Electronics Recycler Sued For Unlawful Reselling of Devices

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Geep- the Canadian electronics recycling company has been sued by Apple for allegedly reselling devices that were supposed to be recycled. It sold over 100,000 devices, including iPhones, iPads and Apple watches for profit instead of being recycled. The devices were shipped for recycling between January 2015 and December 2017.

Meantime, Geep responded, saying that the responsibility should lie on three employees who were involved with the illegal act. It denied all wrongdoing by the company and claimed that the company was not aware of the actions of the employees. The resale was carried out by the three Geep employees, without warning anyone, it said in a press release.

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The fraud was unveiled during an audit of the Geep’s warehouses carried out by Apple, which revealed missing serial numbers.

Apple has filed a lawsuit in January this year claiming 100% of the profits made from the sale of the devices and an additional 31 million Canadian dollars. The tech giant claimed that the illegal sales have resulted in reduced demand for new Apple products. Furthermore, it has hurt its brand, in addition to creating serious safety issues for consumers. As per estimates, at least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left the Geep premises without being destroyed.

However, Geep said that the executives will be liable to pay for any damages, if Apple’s plea is accepted by Court. It has filed a counter suit.