Thilmany lawsuit additional info

Thilmany, which supplied Appleton with thermal coating base stock for its West Carrollton, Ohio, facility, is asking for a jury trial.

The case was assigned to Outagamie County Branch 7 Judge John Des Jardins.

A copy of the contract was sealed in the court file.

"Due to the fact that this case has just been filed, we are not in a position to make any comment at this time," Thilmany spokeswoman Addie Teeters said in an e-mailed statement.

"Appleton denies the claims made and is confident this matter will be resolved in its favor," Bill Van Den Brandt, manager, corporate communications at Appleton, said in an e-mailed statement. "Appleton recently exercised its right to cancel its supply contract with Thilmany based on Thilmany's continuing inability to supply the quality and volume of paper required under the contract. In addition to denying all claims, Appleton will respond to this lawsuit seeking appropriate damages for Thilmany's breach of contract."

In its complaint, Thilmany said Appleton entered a four-year contract on Jan. 1, 2008, to purchase 90 percent of its annual thermal coating base stock for its West Carrollton facility from Thilmany. Appleton agreed to purchase 11,000 tons in 2008, 35,000 tons in 2009 and 40,000 tons each in 2010 and 2011. As a result, Thilmany invested more than $3.6 million in an existing paper machine to manufacture base stock for Appleton, the complaint said.

On Dec. 18, 2008, the complaint said, Appleton notified Thilmany it would reduce its purchase of base stock — manufactured paper further processed for a specific end use — to 500 tons per month, by Jan. 1, 2009