The firm says they stole items worth $300,000.
Silpada Designs Inc. is suing three of its former employees along with a jewelry store over what it claims is stolen merchandise, the Kansas City Star reports.
Lenexa, KS-based Silpada shut down abruptly in 2016. The legal battle now underway — a civil lawsuit — concerns $300,000 worth of jewelry, accessories and other items that Silpada says were supposed to be destroyed.
The Star reports that the items were “leftovers, stuff that had been rejected when the Silpada name and merchandise were sold off … in mid-October, to the Richline Group.”
Sean Pickett is an attorney representing the former employees: Edward Jones, Shaun Aelmore and Beau Foos.
Pickett said his clients didn’t steal anything. In fact, he said, they were “given permission by warehouse staff to take product that was not subject to the sale to Richline.”
William Reneau owns the Gold Rush Exchange, which purchased a large number of the items. Connie Shidler, an attorney for Reneau, said the jewelry-store owner is “completely adamant that he bought these things in good faith,” the Star reports.
A judge in November issued a restraining order barring the employees and Reneau from selling the merchandise. Patrick McInerney, a lawyer representing Silpada, said the company is now requesting that the court “take the product and give it back to us.”
Read more at the Kansas City Star