Fired Tri-County Electric CEO sues co-op board; CFO alleges he paid himself $50K bonus
The defendants in a lawsuit brought by former CEO of Tri-County Electric Darryl Schriver have asked the judge to dismiss his suit against the power company or require that Schriver amend it by providing specific evidence for each cause of action against the defendants, according to Parker County court records.
Schriver, who was terminated from his position July 28 after a “review of information” by the company’s board of directors, filed a lawsuit in Parker County on Sept. 25. He is suing Tri-County Electric Cooperative, board members J. Max Waddell, John Killough, Margaret Koprek, Kevin Ingle, Jorden Wood, Jerry Walden, Steve Harris, Sommer Portwood, Michael Siversten and Chief Financial Officer Melissa Watts.
The lawsuit alleges the board defamed Schriver and conspired to fire him because he wouldn’t participate in “illegal” activities. In a counter claim, one of the defendants alleges that Schriver misused a company credit card for personal expenses and forged a document to pay himself a bonus.
Schriver had served as the power company’s president/CEO since 2017 and worked in the electric co-op industry for more than 20 years, according to the lawsuit. He received excellent performance evaluations during his time at Tri-County and was promised a multi-million dollar pension if he would stay with the company until 2029, the suit says.
“There has never been a hint or whisper of any misconduct by Schriver,” the lawsuit states.
On June 28, Schriver got a call from board chairman Max Waddell informing he was being placed on paid administrative leave. According to the lawsuit, Waddell didn’t give Schriver any reason for the board’s decision. Schriver was instructed to surrender his company laptop and iPad and prohibited from returning to the office and other Tri-County property.
On July 10, Tri-County lawyers told Schriver’s lawyer that someone had brought a “whistleblower” claim against him regarding credit card misuse and “other financial issues.”
On July 14, Schriver and his attorneys attended an interview with the investigator hired by Tri-County to look into the allegations against Schriver.
One item, a $1,103.19 travel expense from March 17, 2022, for Schriver’s wife to accompany him to a forum, should have been paid by Schriver and was not. Those type of expenses were typically deducted from Schriver’s payroll and that hadn’t happened in this case, the lawsuit said. Schriver then sent a check to Waddell for the amount in question to cover the expense.
Schriver was able to prove the other charges in question on the company card were “legitimate, business-related expenditures,” according to his lawsuit.
“Clearly, the credit card portion of the whistleblower report had been put to bed,” the lawsuit states.
Schriver was told the other “financial issues” had to do with an allegation by Watts, the chief financial officer and vice president of finance that he had tried to forge Waddell’s signature on a form approving a $50,000 bonus.
The investigator seemed to acknowledge that Schriver was entitled to the $50,000 because the board had already unanimously voted to give him a bonus in that amount. At the end of the meeting with the investigator, Schriver’s attorney said the claims against him were “meritless.”
Waddell served Schriver a letter of termination on July 28. According to the letter, the board voted to fire him as CEO “as a result of a loss of confidence in your ability to continue to serve in that capacity,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Schriver said the board terminated his employment because he refused to engage in “illegal” activities. Schriver alleges, among other things, that at one point co-op members were overcharged so “certain members could have access to internet, telephone, cable TV, cable internet and wireless internet at other members’ expense.” Schriver also states that some co-op assets were not properly disposed of.
“Schriver refused to engage in any such conduct and that cost him his job,” the lawsuit states.
Schriver is asking for damages over $1 million, that he be reinstated to his position as CEO and that he be allowed to receive the multi-million-dollar pension plan he’d been promised if he would stay with the company until 2029. He is requesting a jury trial.
On Oct. 20, eight of the nine board members responded to Schriver’s lawsuit, denying the allegations and requesting Schriver prove his allegations “by a preponderance of the evidence.”
According to their response filed in court, the board members said they did not publish any statements about Schriver that were false and they believed the lawsuit should be amended “because it fails to give defendants fair notice of the causes of action asserted against them.”
If the judge does not dismiss the suit, the board members have proposed that the court give Schriver 30 days to amend his lawsuit and “allege a specific factual basis for each of his causes of action against those defendants.”
Watt, the chief financial officer, also filed a response to Schriver’s lawsuit on Oct. 20. She denies all the allegations Schriver made in his lawsuit and “demands strict proof,” according to court records.
Watts alleges Schriver has not suffered any damages and has made a counter claim asking for an award of her attorney fees and legal expenses and financial sanctions against Schriver for filing “this groundless suit ... in bad faith and/or solely for the purpose of harassment.”
“Schriver’s malicious prosecution and baseless attacks on Watts can neither be countenanced nor used as an attempted deflection from his own misfeasance,” the document reads, according to court records.
Contrary to Schriver’s account in his lawsuit, Watts alleges that Schriver “manufactured a compensation memorandum” and signed it with Waddell’s name without his knowledge and then put the fraudulent document in the company files.
Schriver also used the company’s credit card to go on “E-bay binges,” purchasing such personal things as Star Wars collector pens, Oakley sunglasses and luxury gold Montblanc and Cross pens, according to the court documents filed by Watts.
She said Schriver submitted the plane ticket for his wife for reimbursement and only after he was caught did he write the personal check to pay the company back. According to Watts, he deceptively listed the item as “Business Purpose.”
“Schriver even had the Co-op pay thousands of dollars for TCU football season tickets for Schriver and his family to personally enjoy on fall weekends (not coincidentally, while his two sons were TCU students),” Watts states in her court documents. “Those football tickets were falsely and deceptively submitted as “Advertising – Parents’ Weekend Sponsorship.”
Watts has requested a summary judgment, meaning that she is asking for the judge to dismiss Schriver’s claims against her without a trial.
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 12:27 PM.
