August 20, 2025
Rift Among Lighting Agents Reshapes Oklahoma Market
Employee exodus at Triple C triggers new rival agency, succession concerns and a new lawsuit
When five lighting people walk out of a leading lighting rep firm in a territory as concentrated as Oklahoma’s, ripple effects are inevitable. When those exits are followed by the formation of a competing agency, and a lawsuit, those ripples can quickly become waves.
Triple C Lighting & Controls — Acuity’s Oklahoma representative and one of the territory’s most established agencies — has filed a lawsuit against five former employees, now operating under a new banner: United Lighting Alliance (ULA). The suit accuses the group of breaching employment agreements, misusing confidential information, and unlawfully soliciting Triple C’s clients and manufacturer lines.
The complaint, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, refers to ULA only as “Newco,” but United Lighting Alliance is the new business in question. ULA, a startup with about 20 independent brands on its line card, has since stepped into public view — with two of the named defendants, Steve Bryant and Emily Crawford, now listed as principals.
Oklahoma is considered one of the toughest states on restrictive employment covenants, where non-compete agreements are generally viewed as unenforceable, though companies can still seek to restrict former employees from soliciting customers or clients they worked with during their tenure.
Above: Excerpt exhibit from Triple C's legal complaint
A Succession Plan Thinned
Triple C has been a mainstay in the Oklahoma commercial lighting scene for decades. In 2021, the agency made a strategic shift away from Hubbell Lighting (now Current) to represent Acuity. For much of the past 25 years, the firm has been among the top two reps in the territory by most industry accounts.
But sources suggest that the recent departures leave gaps in both institutional knowledge and succession planning. Steve Bryant, who earlier this year was cited as a principal of Triple C, is among those named in the suit. So is ULA co-Principal Emily Crawford. The departures leave Triple C President and CEO Jimmy Catlege with fewer internal successors at a time when manufacturers increasingly prize agency stability.
According to public records, Catlege is 67. While his leadership remains central to Triple C’s operations, questions are emerging among some manufacturers about how the agency will maintain continuity with a narrowed leadership bench.
ULA’s Response and a Legal Line in the Sand
In a statement to Inside Lighting, ULA’s founders pushed back sharply against the claims.
“Anyone willing to pay a court filing fee can start a lawsuit in this country, even lawsuits that have no merit at all,” the statement reads. “It is correct that our former employer has filed an unfounded lawsuit against us. We will vigorously litigate the claims in court and not on Inside Lighting. Suffice it to say, however, the claims against us have no merit at all and we fully expect to prevail in the litigation. While our lawyer focuses on the suit, we will remain sharply focused on giving customers excellent service and delivering the outstanding results they expect and deserve.”
“It’s a great day at ULA!”
While the statement avoids direct references to specific allegations, the tone signals that ULA intends to carry forward with business operations uninterrupted.
Triple C’s lawsuit, meanwhile, paints a different picture — alleging that the group formed ULA while still employed, solicited co-workers and manufacturing partners, and violated non-compete and confidentiality agreements. The company claims monetary damages and is seeking injunctive relief to halt what it calls “poaching” of its exclusive lines.
Our email requests seeking comment from Catlege in recent days were not returned.
Familiar Territory
If this storyline sounds familiar, it should. The Oklahoma dispute somewhat mirrors a contentious two-year battle that played out in Wisconsin from 2021 to 2023, when Minnesota-based Mlazgar Associates sued seven former employees who had joined a new Wisconsin office of archrival JTH Lighting Alliance. That dispute also centered on allegations of contract breaches, data misuse, and strategic defection — highlighting how fraught agency transitions can be in territories where relationships run deep and competition is personal.
Such comparisons won’t comfort either side here, but they do suggest that long, public fights between agencies and former employees may be becoming more common across the lighting industry.
Looking Ahead
The legal outcome may take months or years to resolve. But for the near term, Triple C and ULA are both in the Oklahoma market, likely competing for the same specifiers, contractors, distributor attention and manufacturer partners. The question now is whether the litigation will chill business relationships — or if industry pragmatism will prevail while the court sorts through who said and did what.
One thing is clear: the commercial lighting market dynamics in Oklahoma have changed. What began as a set of resignations has become a test of succession, competition, and restraint.
