A federal jury has awarded $125 million in damages to Hawthorne-based OSI Systems Inc, after lawyers successfully argued that a dispute with L-3 Communications Inc. caused it to lose substantial baggage-screening business after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The U.S. District Court in Manhattan jury on Wednesday awarded $33 million in compensatory damages and $92.6 million in punitive damages, finding that New York-based L-3 engaged in fraud as the two companies sought to acquire a third company, Perkin Elmer Security Detection Systems.

Perkin Elmer had insisted that it only wanted to deal with one buyer even though both companies had agreed to acquire it together. OSI, which makes airport security-detection systems, said L-3 did not deliver on its promise to buy the assets of Perkin Elmer for both companies, and give OSI all the rights to the baggage screening business as if OSI’s name was on the contract.

“Acquiring the Perkin Elmer business was an opportunity of a lifetime for OSI. It was post 9-11,” OSI Attorney Howard Rubinroit told the jury in his closing argument, according to the Associated Press. “OSI was indeed the low-cost leader in the securities detection field, and it would have realized significant synergies and profits but for L-3’s misconduct here.”

He added: “And if L-3 hadn’t fooled around, hadn’t lied, hadn’t breached on its fiduciary duty, had it allowed the deal to close at the same time it closed with Perkin Elmer, OSI could have gotten those machines in the middle of the 9-11 rush to put machines into the airports and exploited that opportunity.”

L-3 Communications said it plans to appeal the verdict. Lawyer Steven M. Kayman told the jury that L-3 put up all the money and took all the risks in the purchase of Perkin Elmer and otherwise acted properly.