Many people may not be aware of this, but the state of Oregon’s healthcare website was “botched” and it’s launch has cost the state a lot of money. The company that was behind the website is Oracle, and the two sides have been engaged in a legal battle ever since the controversial and ultimately flawed website was launched.
While the state of Oregon claims that Oracle was fraudulent and accused them of racketeering, Oracle has fired back saying that the state’s own incompetence resulted in the botched website. The state of Oregon filed a lawsuit against Oracle, claiming $6.5 billion in damages. Oracle fired back with it’s own legal claims, saying that the state of Oregon actually agreed to a $25 million settlement last year that they have since reneged on.
Additionally, Oracle says that the state of Oregon leaked confidential information pertaining to Oracle to a reporter — even though a court order forbid the information from being revealed.
Contract disputes are quite common fro companies, especially bigger ones. The legal and financial consequences associated with contract disputes can be significant, and can even cripple smaller companies. That’s why legal help is so important in these types of cases.
Consider what is at stake in this particular case. It may be a headline-grabbing case, but with billions on the line, it would be imperative for any company facing such penalties to defend itself. Having legal counsel to advise your company for disputes of this size and, more likely, disputes on a much smaller scale, is important because any dispute or legal issue can threaten your business.
Source: Oregon Live, “Oregon vs. Oracle: Legal war gets personal as company goes on the attack,” Jeff Manning, April 8, 2016