“Defendants are offering the employees on this confidential list huge sums of money (some were offered up to $30,000) to resign their employment with AMT and provide ‘intelligence gathering’ services for defendants,” the lawsuit alleges.
A recently-filed federal lawsuit claims that opponents of a referendum on Missouri’s heavily-gerrymandered congressional maps are offering “huge sums of money” to signature gathers, all in an allegedly concerned effort to undermine the petition drive.
According to the Missouri Independent, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Advanced Micro Targeting. In court filings, the Texas-based company states that it was hired by the political action committee People Not Politicians to gather the signatures needed to place the new congressional maps on the 2024 ballot.
However, in court documents filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, attorneys for Advanced Micro Targeting say that four private consulting firms are involved in a coordinated effort to pay signature-gatherers to quit their jobs, forfeit signed petition, and engage in general misconduct.
The lawsuit notes that the defendants, among other things, “poached” at least 28 employees, illegally obtaining proprietary information about Advanced Micro Targeting and its workers.
On Monday, though, U.S. District Judge Greg Kays denied the company’s request for a temporary restraining order, saying that Advanced Micro Targeting had yet to establish that it has suffered “irreparable harm” that cannot be compensated or rectified at a later date.
The Missouri Independent notes that Billy Rogers, the founder and president of Advanced Micro Targeting, said that the lawsuit marks the first time his company has taken competitors to court since it was established in 2007.
“This was so egregious,” Rogers said. “We’ve never seen anything like it.”
The lawsuit states that, at some point, the defendant companies acquired confidential lists Advanced Micro Targeting’s employees; these lists detailed names and titles and provided other information, including worker productivity measurements.
The consulting firms, attorneys say, used this information to conduct “intelligence gathering” operations intended to undermine Advanced Micro Targeting’s operations in Missouri.
“Defendants are offering the employees on this confidential list huge sums of money (some were offered up to $30,000) to resign their employment with AMT and provide ‘intelligence gathering’ services for defendants,” the lawsuit alleges.
One of the defendant firms, Let the Voters Decide, has since called the case a “bogus lawsuit.”
In a statement to The New York Times, a spokesperson for Let the Voters Decide said that Missouri Attorney General’s Office has released information indicating that Advancing Micro Targeting engages in bad or unlawful business practices.
“We will defend our company aggressively against AMT’s absurd claims,” the company said. “And anyone who reports or reads these claims really ought to consider the source.”
Sources
Lawsuit details alleged scheme to sabotage referendum on Missouri congressional map
Missouri AG faces ethics complaint over redistricting petition lawsuit
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