Did you hear?… Cybex loses final appeal attempt on $2.5 million Kirila verdict

After a decade in one court or another, Pyramid Fitness founder Gene Kirila’s case against Cybex (AMEX: CYB) that charged breach of contract along with a number of other “unfair” business practices is over, with Kirila coming out the victor.

Cybex “does not intend to further pursue its appeals,” the company said in a statement.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently said it would not hear Cybex’s appeal of the ruling from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from December 2005 that affirmed a nearly $2.5 million judgment from lower courts.

The Superior Court appeal stemmed from a court affirmation in April 2004 of a February 2002 jury verdict, which came six years after the case was originally filed by Kirila charging breach of contract, incorrect calculations of compensation, and various allegations of unfair deductions after Cybex bought Pyramid in 1993. (Click here to see a Jan. 18, 2006, SNEWS® story, “Cybex loses appeal of $2.5 million judgment in Kirila case.”)

In a company statement, Cybex continued to say it was “disappointed” in the result and that it “continues to believe the basis for the judgment was in error.” The Cybex statement said it is now discussing with Kirila’s legal representatives the amount of post-judgment interest to be added to the judgment, plus related costs, if any.

As Cybex said in January after the last ruling, its representatives said they believe the total amount the company will be required to satisfy is covered by its litigation reserves. As of April 2006, it had $6.2 million available in anticipation of a possible loss in this case as well as in two other pending cases, one alleging patent infringement for its Stableflex deck and one alleging the same by FreeMotion Fitness. The payment of the judgment in the Kirila case is anticipated for the third quarter of this year and should not result in a charge to earnings.

Kirila was not available for comment by deadline.

Cybex stock prices didn’t seem affected by the news, instead continuing a slight drop that began the beginning of June and has taken shares from $6.15 on June 1 to a close of $5.42 on June 14.