May 28, 2025
Lighting Agency Sues Former President Over Software Launch
Former principal accused of misappropriating proprietary tools to start software business
What began as an internal tool to streamline operations at a South Carolina lighting agency has become the focus of a federal legal battle.
A recently filed federal lawsuit has thrust Brent Medearis — who, according to LinkedIn, served as President of lighting agency Carolina Architectural Lighting + Design (CAL+D) for 12 years — into the legal spotlight, accused of transforming his former agency’s internal business tools into a commercial software product now marketed by his new company, Pickaxe LLC.
The suit, filed April 21 in Greenville County and moved to federal court last week, alleges a breach of fiduciary duty, contract violations and misappropriation of trade secrets. CAL+D claims Medearis and his associates used agency time, data and resources to secretly develop and eventually profit from business analytics software now central to Pickaxe, a platform embedded in the increasingly adopted OrdrTrak ecosystem used across the lighting and electrical industry.
From Trusted Insider to Alleged Competitor
CAL+D’s complaint sketches a dramatic fall from trust. According to court documents, while still a senior figure at the agency, Medearis worked with a business consultant named Robert Pagano — also named in the lawsuit — to develop internal analytics tools aimed at optimizing agency operations. The effort was pitched to CAL+D as a strategic investment. Medearis reportedly used CAL+D staff, consultants, and company data to build out the platform, with costs totaling $16,000 monthly.
But in August 2023 — months before Medearis officially stepped down from CAL+D management and sold his ownership stake — he quietly formed Pickaxe LLC. The complaint alleges that Medearis and Pagano, working under the guise of Greenville Business Consulting and another firm called The Inside Group, began marketing the software without CAL+D’s knowledge or consent. By early 2024, Medearis had launched Pickaxe publicly, taking on a formal role with the company.
Above: Excerpt from CAL+D’s legal complaint
CAL+D contends these actions violate a two-year noncompete agreement, confidentiality clauses, and the trust inherent in Medearis’ leadership role. They are seeking damages, including disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief, and potentially treble damages under South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Inside Lighting contacted Medearis on Tuesday morning for comment. As of publication, no response had been received.
A Platform Built from the Inside
The lawsuit lands at a critical moment for Pickaxe’s visibility. As a business intelligence tool integrated into IDEA’s OrdrTrak platform, Pickaxe offers sales agencies the kind of insights they’ve long lacked: real-time pipeline analytics, backlog tracking, and revenue forecasting. Unlike legacy systems based on static spreadsheets, Pickaxe aims to digitize and automate operations often plagued by human error and time lags.
The platform’s value is especially pronounced in a distribution environment driven by precision timing and transparent communication. As OrdrTrak connects manufacturers like Acuity Brands, RAB Lighting, and Signify with their downstream partners, Pickaxe feeds data upstream — giving manufacturers a window into sales agency pipelines previously obscured by outdated systems.
Industry sources have noted Pickaxe’s growing traction, though many remained unaware of its contested origin story. If CAL+D’s allegations are accurate, then Pickaxe’s competitive edge may rest not only on its functionality, but on intellectual property drawn directly from a former agency’s operational DNA.
Merger, Market and Motive
Adding fuel to the fire is CAL+D’s recent merger with Murphy Company to form Creative Lighting Solutions (CLS), now Acuity’s representative in South Carolina. That September 2024 merger created a consolidated powerhouse representing over 200 lighting lines. Notably, Current Lighting parted ways with CAL+D just months earlier, freeing up strategic bandwidth — perhaps making its proprietary data and software tools all the more valuable.
Medearis’s departure in early 2024 came just before this reshuffling. The lawsuit suggests the timing wasn’t incidental, but rather part of a broader plan to monetize CAL+D’s internally-developed tools in a broader commercial context.
The defendants have moved the case to federal court, citing federal jurisdiction under copyright law, though no formal copyright infringement claim has yet been filed. Instead, CAL+D leans on contract and trade secret laws to seek an injunction and damages.
In a market where data is power and platforms like Pickaxe promise a more intelligent sales infrastructure, the question remains: Who owns the intelligence when the boundaries between employer, consultant and entrepreneur blur?
