MercuryGate Responds in IT Dispute; Countersues J.B. Hunt For $5 Million

MercuryGate International Inc., a software provider catering to the trucking industry, filed a $5 million counterclaim Aug. 17 in an IT dispute over an information technology system the company sold to Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. to support its brokerage division.

J.B. Hunt brought a $3.1 million lawsuit against the North Carolina-based company July 17 in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, alleging breach of contract and negligence, and claiming the software was useless.

Monica Wooden, CEO and co-founder of MercuryGate, wondered about the timing, telling industry publication Transport Topics that J.B. Hunt had used her company’s system for almost two years before ultimately deciding to file a lawsuit.

In the countersuit, MercuryGate placed fault with J.B. Hunt, saying the company “failed to coordinate or communicate effectively with the user community [drivers]” before buying the software.

MercuryGate said it has lost more than $5 million, according to the lawsuit.

“MercuryGate wrote-off significant charges to [J.B. Hunt] as a good-faith gesture to what it thought would be a long-term customer, incurred significant opportunity costs in devoting substantial resources to [J.B. Hunt], and has lost the profit of its expected 10-15 year relationship with a client,” the company claims.

The lawsuit also claims J.B. Hunt
violated confidentiality and intellectual property rights, “causing MercuryGate long-term and significant damage potentially in the tens of millions of dollars.”

Jeff Mitchell with Taylor Law Partners in Fayetteville is representing J.B. Hunt. Jeff Fletcher with Kutak Rock in Fayetteville is local counsel for MercuryGate.

Both attorneys declined to comment on the litigation.