November 22, 2011 - Western Digital, already affected by the flooding in Thailand which has caused a shortage of hard drives, was ordered to pay an arbitration award of $525 million to its rival Seagate Technology. The award is based on a finding that a former Seagate employee misappropriated trade secrets and other confidential information.
The $525 million does not include prejudgment interest, which has yet to be determined.
Western Digital denies the validity of Seagate's claims despite the arbitration award.