January 11, 2023

Settlement reached in Mlazgar vs. JTH Lawsuit

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Mlazgar ex-employees and JTH reportedly end 2-year legal conflict with Mlazgar

A much-talked-about lawsuit involving two Upper Midwest lighting agents and multiple employees who left one agent to go work for the archrival agent, is seemingly on the brink of being a closed case.

In a legal battle that started in February 2021, Minnesota-based Mlazgar Associates accused multiple ex-employees and an archrival agent, JTH Lighting Alliance, of conspiring to steal confidential Mlazgar business information and also, while still employed by Mlazgar, the employees allegedly attempted to cause certain lighting brands to switch Wisconsin representation from Mlazgar to JTH.

Daniel Gustafson, the court-appointed Special Master who has been overseeing the onerous and voluminous discovery proceedings of the case since April 2022, filed a recent status update indicating that the parties have reached a settlement in principle. Court filings do not yet indicate that a final settlement agreement among the parties has been completed and fully executed. According to an email sent from Mlazgar attorney, Daniel J. Wilcox, to Special Master Gustafson, Mlazgar began drafting the settlement documents in late December.

The legal case is technically still open and unresolved, but it appears to be heading to a conclusion that will likely involve confidentiality clauses that will not provide any insights into the terms of the settlement.

Some independent brands including BEGA North America, Delta Light, Kelvix, Lightglass, Neri, Meteor Lighting, Vode, Luminii and Carl Stahl may be pleased that the litigation is seemingly over, as multiple manufacturers that were solicited to move from Mlazgar to JTH in Wisconsin were subpoenaed and possibly compelled to answer questions or share documents relating to communication they may have received from the Mlazgar ex-employees.

Similar allegations in new lawsuit:
In late December, Mlazgar filed a new lawsuit against Current™ subsidiaries, HLI Solutions, Inc. (the former Hubbell Lighting) and Litecontrol as well as Hubbell-owned Progress Lighting. In the case, Mlazgar alleges that the manufacturers withheld paying earned commissions. Mlazgar also accuses the three manufacturers of conspiring to steal Mlazgar’s employees, confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information, interfere with Mlazgar’s contracts and business relationships and use Mlazgar’s information against Mlazgar.

With the settlement terms expected to be kept confidential, it will be interesting to see what evidence Mlazgar can lawfully submit to support their new allegations against HLI, while remaining compliant with any imminent settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses it makes with JTH and the ex-employees.

Answering EdisonReport’s Recent Mlazgar Question:
In its recent recap of the Mlazgar vs. HLI case, EdisonReport asks multiple seemingly uninformed questions of Mlazgar including, “But if you believe seven employees stole data, why not pursue litigation against the former employees?” The simple and obvious answer is that Mlazgar did indeed sue the ex-employees two years ago – and inside.lighting has been covering the much-talked-about matter since March 2021.