Lidar-maker Luminar says its founder and former CEO Austin Russell has been avoiding requests for information — including a subpoena — the company needs to decide whether to take legal action against him.
The company, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in late December, said in a emergency deposit over the weekend trying to reclaim company-owned devices from Russell after he resigned in May. While it has recovered six computers, Luminar is still looking for the Russell-issued phone and a digital copy of his personal phone.
Luminar’s lawyers also wrote in the filing that Russell and his staff repeatedly misled legal representatives about the founder’s location during the holidays. They are asking the court for permission to serve Russell by mail or email. A lawyer for Luminar declined to comment further.
In emails attached to the filing, Russell claimed to be cooperative and trying to get assurances from Luminar that any personal data from his devices would be protected.
“The company refused, so we will follow the process established by the court to protect data management,” Leonard Shulman, Russell’s lawyer, told TechCrunch.
The emergency filing is one of the first major twists and turns in a fast-moving bankruptcy case that involves Luminar trying to sell its two main parts of the business. The company is seeking court approval of an already reached agreement to sell its semiconductor subsidiary to a company called Quantum Computing, Inc., and has set a Jan. 9 deadline for bids on its lidar division.
Russell, through his new business Russell AI Labs, tried to buy Luminar before the Chapter 11 filing and has expressed plans to bid in the bankruptcy process. “For Luminar, our focus remains on what matters: Russell AI Labs’ offering to rebuild the company and deliver value to its shareholders,” said Shulman.
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Luminar’s lawyers said in the filing that it began seeking information from Russell in May, soon after he abruptly resigned following a “code of business conduct and ethics investigation” by the board’s audit committee. The company was evaluating whether it may have potential legal claims against him “relating to the Audit Committee’s investigation and personal loans obtained by Mr. Russell,” according to the filing. But Luminar said those efforts were unsuccessful and Russell was uncooperative.
On Nov. 12, Luminar’s board created a Special Investigative Committee and hired the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges to further investigate “certain acts, omissions, transactions and potential claims and causes of action involving or relating to certain current and former directors and officers of Luminar.”
A month later, shortly before bankruptcy, Weil’s attorneys contacted McDermott Will & Schulte, the law firm that previously represented Russell. Weil’s lawyers asked to collect the laptops and desktop computers provided by Russell Luminar, along with his company-issued phone and a digital copy (or “image”) of his personal phone.
Attorneys from Weil spent a week trying to confirm whether McDermott would represent Russell in the Special Investigative Committee matter, only to find out on Dec. 19 that he would not. Weil’s attorneys attempted to contact Russell directly.
Russell first responded on Christmas Eve, according to the filing. He eventually authorized McDermott to turn over the computers (which the company had been in possession of since his resignation), but the founder repeatedly asked for assurances that Luminar’s lawyers would not search the personal data on his phones.
“I have offered immediate cooperation as well as immediate action, even during the holidays – but if this single basic protection cannot be confirmed, I am advised that further discussions on this matter will not be productive,” Russell wrote in an email on New Year’s Eve.
Luminar representatives arranged for a medical examiner to appear at Russell’s Florida mansion on New Year’s Day. But the technician was removed by Russell’s security team, which a Luminar lawyer called “unacceptable.”
Russell claimed the technician was sent to his home “unannounced” on the morning of the holiday “while I was sleeping” and reiterated his desire to protect the privacy of his personal data. A lawyer for Luminar responded that “they have repeatedly confirmed that we do not intend to review any documents beyond those related to Luminar.” Russell replied on January 2 that “[a]The characterization that I was uncooperative is completely inaccurate,” and he accused the lawyers of “word gymnastics.”
Luminar’s lawyers instead tried to subpoena that information from Russell, but claimed their process servers were similarly denied by his security team. They also claim members of the security team lied about Russell’s presence at his Florida residence.
“Can we try to serve Austin again today? We’re going to need someone with tenacity. He’s going to avoid service as much as possible,” one of Weil’s attorneys wrote in an email on New Year’s Eve. “Actually, he was home when your person tried the last time and the guard just lied to him.”
