Project Veritas Sues Founder James O’Keefe, Accusing Him of Wooing Donors for Rival Company
Right-wing action group Project Veritas filed a lawsuit Wednesday against its founder, James O’Keefe, alleging he bullied staff, and violated his employment agreement by establishing a rival organization while still on Project Veritas’ payroll.
“Being known as the founder of an organization does not entitle that person to run amok and put his own interests ahead of that organization,” the filing, obtained by Rolling Stone, reads. “Defendant James O’Keefe (“O’Keefe”) failed in his duties to Plaintiff, Project Veritas, causing it serious and significant damage.”
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According to the lawsuit, the Project Veritas board of directors placed O’Keefe on paid leave on Feb. 6, following accusations that the founder “behaved unprofessionally during team meetings, including by screaming at coworkers and belittling them and their contributions to Project Veritas.” In February, the nonprofit’s board received a memo outlining his alleged pattern of unprofessional workplace conduct, signed by 16 employees, or about a third of the Project Veritas staff.
Wednesday’s lawsuit also states that the board required him to “surrender his company credit card” and restricted his “access to proprietary information, including donor lists,” while still indicating that he remained a CEO and board member. Despite the restrictions, the suit alleges that O’Keefe continued to use the company card for personal expenses in the amount of approximately $19,000.
Less than two weeks after he was suspended, O’Keefe announced the launch of a new, Project Veritas-like group called O’Keefe Media Group (OMG). The lawsuit accused O’Keefe of continuing “to solicit Project Veritas’s donors, employees and contractors, in direct violation of his Employment Agreement, for and on behalf of OMG.”
The suit further alleges that during this period of time, O’Keefe was still on the company payroll, and that he remained on the board until April 24. He was ousted from Project Veritas entirely on May 15.
“The only way O’Keefe and OMG had those donors’ contact information was because it was part of a confidential list kept by Project Veritas,” the company claimed.
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