Lord & Taylor LLC can keep the $31 million a Maryland federal jury awarded it for profits lost when the owners of a D.C.-area mall broke its lease agreement by buying out other stores and failing to replace an anchor department store that left, the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday.
The retailer had told the jury in August 2015 that White Flint LP’s “arrogance and greed” led it to tank the Montgomery County, Maryland, mall by short-leasing tenants or buying them out — violating lease provisions to operate a “first-rate” shopping center and to seek consent from Lord & Taylor on changes — to build a new, more profitable mixed-use development.
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Michelle Gambino of Greenberg Traurig LLP, who represented Lord & Taylor, said in a statement the company was very pleased with the ruling affirming the $31 million verdict in its favor.
"Lord & Taylor is grateful to those in the community who continue to support the store," she said.