The co-founder of a 280-employee accounting firm in Sparks who was fired from his management role last month has sued the company and the remaining owners, alleging that they ousted him to gain control of his ownership stake on the cheap.
Thomas E. Stout, who had been the managing director of SC&H Group and helped found the firm in 1991, asked for $15 million in damages — plus $45 million in punitive damages from each of the owners — in a suit filed Friday in Baltimore County Circuit Court. He also asked the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the dissolution and liquidation of the firm.
Owners Ronald M. Causey, Gregory S. Horning and Michael J. Young, named as defendants along with the company, notified Stout last month that his employment would end May 28, blaming "problematic" behavior and performance, according to the suit.
William F. Ryan Jr., Stout's attorney, said his client "unequivocally disagrees with the assertions" in that termination letter.
Katie Lochte, a spokeswoman for SC&H Group, said it was "pretty unfortunate that it's gotten to this point."
"The allegations are completely unwarranted, and we'll defend them in court," she said.
The suit contends that the defendants were trying to wrest control of Stout's ownership stake at a low price. The value of shares in the company's employee stock ownership plan, $57.39 apiece at the end of 2008, dropped to $45.80 at the end of 2009 as the recession deepened and revenues fell, the suit says.
Under the terms of an agreement Stout signed, the year-end value determined the dollar amount he would have to sell his shares for the following year — minus a 25 percent discount if he were dismissed with "cause."
"This plan was conceived, orchestrated and implemented for the purpose of enriching the Individual Defendants to the detriment, and at the expense, of Stout," the suit alleges.
The letter sent to Stout by the other owners in May, included in the suit, said he was failing to report to work and displayed "an unacceptable and disruptive leadership style."
jamie.smith.hopkins@baltsun.com