Texas Federal Judge Unseals Whistleblower Case Against Building Materials Company
DALLAS, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. District Court Judge Sam A. Lindsay has unsealed the case file of a whistleblower who was being sued by his former employer, a large publicly traded building materials company.
Select Interior Concepts Inc. (NASDAQ: SIC) and its wholly owned subsidiary had filed suit under seal against Peter Pental, after he notified the company that he intended to file a whistleblower claim. After Mr. Pental filed his counterclaims, he moved to unseal his case, while SIC asked the court to keep the case sealed from public view.
The court, after finding that SIC had failed to make an adequate showing of how litigating the case in public would harm the company, went on to unseal the entire case. The court further found that the presumption in federal court is that without a specific showing of harm to a party, all filings will be public.
"SIC counsel raced to the courthouse to file a case against Mr. Pental to ensure that his Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistleblower claim would be put under seal. Fortunately, their strategy did not work," said Lynne Bernabei, one of Mr. Pental's lawyers.
The court also denied SIC and its subsidiary's motion for default judgment.
Mr. Pental is represented by Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. of Houston and Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC of Washington, D.C. The filings are publicly available, and a copy of Mr. Pental's counterclaims are available upon request. The lawsuit is Select Interior Concepts, Inc. et al. v. Pental, Case No. 3:20-CV-295-L filed Feb. 6, 2020, in the U.S. Northern District of Texas.
Contact:
Lynne Bernabei ([email protected]) 202-302-2247
Kristen Sinisi ([email protected]) 814-330-5541
Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, 1400 16th Street N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C.
SOURCE Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC
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