Jeff Lo said he’s just sitting by his phone, waiting for his life to resume after his former employer, Toby Rice, took over as head of the company that is suing Mr. Lo.
“This whole time I’m just really trying to get what I deserve,” Mr. Lo said last week. “I want to get my severance back. I just want that to be over. I just want to clear my name, clear my reputation.”
A petroleum engineer and software developer who was transferred to EQT Corp. when the Pittsburgh-based oil and gas producer acquired Mr. Lo’s previous employer, Rice Energy Inc. in late 2017, Mr. Lo has spent the past five months fighting accusations of trade secret theft.
EQT filed a lawsuit against him in February alleging that after Mr. Lo had gotten wind of his imminent layoff, he collected a trove of confidential files that he planned to use to help Toby Rice and brother Derek Rice win their proxy fight against EQT’s leadership.
As the Rice team gained control of EQT during a shareholder meeting July 10, the two brothers and several of their associates were still fighting EQT subpoenas for records of their contact with Mr. Lo dating back to November 2017.
EQT said it needed to see their texts and e-mails with Mr. Lo because he had erased those correspondences on his devices, according to a forensic analysis.
The Rice brothers told the judge in the case that EQT was simply trying to distract from its proxy battle and harass the instigators.
Now that the Rice brothers have won the proxy fight and took over control the same day, Mr. Lo had assumed the changing of the guard at EQT would immediately free him from the lawsuit. He was “confused” when the company requested to hit pause on the case for 45 days as it evaluates its options.
“This whole lawsuit started out because the previous CEO and directors sort of [wanted to] go after the Rice brothers,” he said. Why would Toby Rice, who is fighting a subpoena in this case, need 45 days to pull the plug, he wondered.
Mr. Lo proposed 15 days should suffice and the judge agreed.
It’s a weird situation. The same lawyers who had all but accused Toby and Derek Rice of conspiring with Mr. Lo to misuse EQT secrets are still representing the company under its new CEO.
EQT has said in court documents that it will charge two of its independent board members to review the case against Mr. Lo and recommend how the company should proceed. Company spokesman Mike Laffin, who previously had to sell the merits of the case, declined to say which two directors would be doing the work.
EQT has until Aug. 2 to decide if it will continue pursuing the case.
Mr. Lo, who avidly followed the proxy fight and commented about it on social media, said he hasn’t looked for another job because he’s been consumed with the lawsuit. “Now that the Rice brothers won, I would want to kind of go back to work at EQT if it’s going to be similar to what Rice Energy was,” he said.
If not, Mr. Lo said he’d likely move back to Texas.
Facing Toby Rice directly
While he waits for the case against him to play out, Mr. Lo was also recently deposed in another lawsuit whose dynamics may change as a result of the leadership shuffle.
Former Rice employee Kevin Wutherich sued EQT in February 2018 as a successor to Rice Energy which he claimed fired him for, among other things, whistle blowing about Mr. Lo.
Mr. Wutherich said he overheard Mr. Lo talking to Derek Rice about data that he stole from his previous employer, EOG Resources. He said he told Toby Rice about this, fearing that Rice Energy might be violating federal securities laws by not disclosing this as a possible risk factor to shareholders.
Mr. Wutherich said he also told Mr. Rice he suspected another Rice employee was self-dealing by contracting with an oilfield services company that he partly owned.
That employee and Mr. Wutherich were fired the same day, the lawsuit said.
After more than a year of depositions and discovery, Mr. Wutherich is no longer suing a proxy for the man who fired him. He’s facing down Toby Rice directly.
It’s not known if the new EQT will change its legal strategy in Mr. Wutherich’s case. Mr. Laffin said he couldn’t comment on pending lawsuits.
The next status conference is scheduled for July 29.
EQT is set to report its second quarter earnings on July 18.
Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.
First Published: July 23, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
Updated: July 23, 2019, 12:49 p.m.
