The simple invention saved a lot of Home Depot employees' fingers, but it will cost executives an arm and a leg.
The hardware store chain has been ordered to pay close to $25 million in damages, attorney's fees and interest to a South Florida inventor Michael Powell, who claims Home Depot execs stole his idea and refused to pay up, reports the Palm Beach Post.
On Tuesday, a West Palm Beach judge called Home Depot "arrogant" after hearing testimony that one executive reportedly said "(Bleep) Michael Powell" after being told of his intentions to sue.
The judge awarded Powell $3 million in punitive damages, which will be added to the $15 million a jury ruled Home Depot should pay Powell for the continued use of "Safe Hands," a device that is used on radial saws that would prevent workers' hands from coming in contact with the rotating blade.
That sound you hear is the price of plywood going up.
"It's sad to say, but Home Depot literally organized a theft of the Powell invention," U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley said.
Powell invented the plastic guard while he lived in Boca Raton. He has since moved to North Carolina. He offered to sell the device to Home Depot for $2,000 per "Safe Hands," but Home Depot had a better idea.
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They decided to have workers copy the design instead.
