An Allegheny County man is suing is former employer for the return of thousands of dollars that he invested in the company.
Scott Lehigh filed a lawsuit against Downing Partners LLC and Surgical Safety Solutions on Sept. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, citing breach of contract and fraud.
According to the complaint, prior to Nov. 7, 2014, Lehigh entered into discussions with Surgical Safety Solutions for employment as their executive vice president of North American sales. During negotiations, Lehigh, the lawsuit claims, was told in order to be employed he would have to invest $250,000 structured as a convertible note with 5 percent warrant coverage. On Nov. 7, 2014, he received a letter of employment from Surgical Safety Solutions.
Lehigh claims on his first day of work he talked to three people who were to report to him. Each asked when it was that they were going to get paid, adding that they had not been paid for several months. He learned that Surgical Safety Solutions had not made payroll for November and December 2014. He also learned that many vendors to the company had not been paid and several vendor services had been cut off for non-payment. Lehigh submitted his resignation on March 2.
Lehigh is seeking a judgment to get the $250,000 he invested in Surgical Safety Solutions, in addition to punitive damages. He is being represented by Pittsburgh-based attorney Stanley M. Stein.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:15-cv-01240-AJS