Lawson Software Inc. has settled a breach-of-contract lawsuit with one of its customers, TeamStaff Inc., a human resources outsourcer, payroll and temporary staffing services provider.
In the lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, TeamStaff alleged that certain human resources software purchased from St. Paul, Minn.-based Lawson last year didn't work as expected.
When it purchased Lawson's human resources product, TeamStaff said, it expected that the software would allow it to consolidate its multiple operating systems into a single platform.
However, TeamStaff claimed, the software didn't conform to hundreds of detailed specifications, and the company alleged that Lawson knew it couldn't meet TeamStaff's expectations when it entered into the deal.
Under the settlement, TeamStaff will keep the financial services licenses it purchased but return the human resources products, according to a statement issued yesterday by Somerset, N.J.-based TeamStaff.
TeamStaff's chief financial officer, Donald Kelly, said the companies weren't releasing the financial terms of the settlement, but he added that TeamStaff is happy the issues were resolved. He said his company is currently evaluating different human resources applications from other companies.
Lawson couldn't be reached for comment.
David Caruso, an analyst at AMR Research Inc. in Boston, said these types of lawsuits, are usually the "last, last resort."
"Before [companies] get to lawsuits, they've tried to sort out their differences," Caruso said. "But business applications are so complicated that it's difficult to have every expectation met perfectly every time."