Generac sued by supplier for alleged non-payment

Generac Power Systems is the subject of a legal campaign initiated by one of its suppliers, accusing the global power equipment and generator manufacturer of failing to pay millions of dollars in parts orders.

Generac said it “strongly disputes” the allegations and would “vigourously defend” the lawsuits.

The company suing Generac is Spartronics, a Pennsylvania-based contract manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical devices for the defense, medical and life sciences sectors.

It filed two lawsuits last Friday accusing Generac of refusing to pay for ordered parts that it said Generac authorized. 

According to the filed lawsuits, Generac forecasted sales and then directed Spartronics to order materials from suppliers in advance to meet those forecasts. However, when projected sales failed to materialize into actual sales, Spartronics claims Generac refused to pay the bills for what turned out to be excess inventory, leaving Spartronics owing its own supplier network tens of millions of dollars for the ordered materials.

When asked for comment, Generac issued the following statement: “The Company strongly disputes the allegations in the complaint. Spartronics misrepresents several issues in their lawsuits and ignores their own accountability. We intend to vigorously defend the matter. We cannot comment further since this is pending litigation.”

The initial lawsuits were filed in Allegheny County Superior Court in Pittsburgh, Penn., and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Scranton, Penn. Each lawsuit asks the Court to order Generac to pay amounts owed to a supplier from whom Spartronics ordered and procured materials and products for Generac.

Additional lawsuits are expected in an attempt to recover additional costs the company said were incurred through nearly 100 different parts suppliers.