Rock Hill contractor slams Tepper, Carolina Panthers
Plus: Employment lawyer Q&A on social media; Late returns rise after library goes fine-free; Readers recommend books by N.C. writers; BofA to cover abortion travel; Bruton Smith funeral Thursday
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Construction company that says it’s owed $68M calls Panthers owner a ‘crafty player’ in bankruptcies, with ‘incestuous’ business structure; suggests team should pay
by Tony Mecia
The general contractor on the Carolina Panthers’ abandoned Rock Hill headquarters project suggests in new court documents that the Panthers could be liable for tens of millions of dollars of the project’s debts.
In a filing last week in the bankruptcy case of GT Real Estate Holdings — a real estate company controlled by Panthers owner David Tepper — joint venture contractor Mascaro/Barton Malow said Tepper and the Panthers and affiliated business entities engaged in a series of “intertwined and suspicious dealings” that deserve further scrutiny. It says that the contractor believes that “entities owned or controlled by David Tepper, and in particular the Carolina Panthers, may be liable for the Debtor’s obligations.”
Generally, the assets of separate holding companies are distinct from those of their owners, which would mean Tepper and the Panthers would be off the hook for tens of millions in debts racked up on the failed project, which was in the middle of construction when it was halted in March. But in the court filings, the contractor says Tepper and the Panthers made a series of sloppy missteps and “questionable insider transactions” that could open them up to liability.
For instance, the contractor says that even though GT Real Estate Holdings was the company running the Rock Hill project, $115M in payments for work there came directly from the Carolina Panthers’ checking account. And Mascaro/Barton Malow’s contract with the real estate company was signed by “Mark Hart” as “Vice President and C.O.O.” when in fact Hart is the vice president and chief operating officer of the Panthers. Those distinctions are important because they suggest that Tepper’s real estate company was not being operated as a distinct business, which could open up Tepper’s larger enterprise to liability.
A $15.9M payment for work on the Rock Hill headquarters last September came not from GT Real Estate Holdings, the company supposedly handling the project, but directly from the Carolina Panthers. (Photo from bankruptcy court documents)
Loans or not? The court filings also raise questions about the status of the money that the Panthers put into the Rock Hill project. The real estate company has said the Panthers contributed $163.5M in loans. But the contractor alleges there are no loan documents for the payments, which further suggests a co-mingling of assets and raises the question of which should take priority in being repaid: the “loan” payments from the Panthers, or the money owed to construction contractors?
Mascaro/Barton Malow has said in court filings it believes it is owed $68M for construction work. It’s a joint venture between construction companies Mascaro of Pittsburgh and Barton Malow of Michigan and is the largest outside creditor in the bankruptcy. York County is also trying to recover the $21M it paid toward the project in January 2021. The project fell apart over a dispute with the city of Rock Hill, which did not issue more than $200M in bonds to help pay for the infrastructure.
‘Crafty’ hedge fund manager: Last week’s filing also has some choice words about Tepper, who the contractor says deserves extra scrutiny because of his background. It says that “Tepper is one of the most seasoned and crafty players in the distressed market space” who has “made his career in leveraging distressed situations to his benefit.” It calls Tepper’s football-related business entities “incestuous (if not intentionally fraudulent).” Tepper is a hedge fund manager with an estimated net worth of $17B.
In reply, GT Real Estate Holdings’ chief restructuring officer says in court documents that its proposed plan is in the best interest of creditors. He also says that there has been some interest from developers in acquiring the site. The company “has shared NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] with two mixed-use real estate investors that have inquired about the status of the project,” he wrote, without providing further details.
➡️ Read for yourself: The construction company’s allegations against Tepper and the Panthers.
Related Ledger article:
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Q&A with an employment lawyer: Be careful on those impassioned social media posts
Social media has been active, to say the least, since Friday’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. And online political discussions were already cranked up since the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.
Heated debates on social media are nothing new, but with the volume on abortion, gun control and other charged issues rising, it might be an appropriate time to revisit the topic of how employees’ outside-of-work opinions and activities that show up online can lead to problems for workers and their employers.
Charlotte residents might recall the 2015 example of a Charlotte Fire Department deputy chief who was disciplined and who later retired after posting a meme on his personal Facebook page about Bruce Jenner transitioning to become a woman. That was just a few months after the department fired an arson investigator who had posted about the response to a police shooting in Ferguson, Mo. And there’s the 2019 “SouthPark Susan” incident, in which a woman was fired from her job after a video went viral of her harassing two Black women at an apartment complex.
The Ledger talked last week with employment lawyer Marc Gustafson of the Charlotte office of Bell, Davis & Pitt about best practices for companies and workers when it comes to controversial social media posts. Remarks were edited for brevity and clarity.
Q. Abortion is a hot topic. Guns are a hot topic. When it comes to political discussions on social media, what do you hear from employers? What do they want to know?
Employers have to be really careful they're not discriminating against employees. On abortion issues, that affects women more so than men, and employers have to be careful that they're not retaliating against women for making those posts and that that turns into a gender discrimination claim.
North Carolina is an at-will employment state. Anybody can fire anybody for any reason, or no reason at all. But you can't discriminate. I think gun stuff — it doesn’t involve gender, it doesn’t involve race. But abortion does. The risk for the employer there is that the employer takes what we call an adverse action against a woman for making one of those posts, and a woman says, “Well, you’re only doing this because I’m a woman.”
Q. What’s the best advice for employees?
Employers can terminate people for any reason or no reason at all. People have to be mindful of the things that they’re posting: Do they align with their company? Does the company want any publicity at all, particularly on things that are politically charged right now?
People need to be mindful of the things that they post online. These are politically, socially, morally charged items. As an employee, I would be mindful of anything that I’m posting online, knowing that my employer has the ability to terminate me. The limits on that are small.
This is one of those areas where I’m likely to get calls from people saying, “I’m only exercising my freedom of speech.” Freedom of speech only protects individuals as to government action. Your employer can terminate you for exercising what we would all consider “freedom of speech” rights.
Q. If I’m an employer, I might not necessarily want my employees’ political views blowing back on my business. Is there a best practice for what an employer should do in terms of policies?
Every employer should have a social media policy. It should start with, “You are an employee of the company, and you represent the company, in your personal and professional life, and the things you post on social media are a reflection on you and on our company.” Companies don’t want negative publicity of any kind. No one wants the media writing a story about them.
If I were drafting a social media policy, it would be something to the effect of, “The company appreciates your right to express your opinions” but reminds employees that they are representatives of their employer, and they need to be mindful of that.
Q. Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? Most employers, I'm guessing, don’t mind having their employees being involved in the political process. But if it’s something that’s really calling attention to them or kind of out there, it’s a problem?
“Think twice, post once” would be a good motto. Even in these times when we all feel really strongly about things, we should think about what we post. I don’t think employers are trying to necessarily impede anybody’s right to speak freely. It’s the world that we live in.
One year after library goes fine-free: late returns rise to 25%, but wait times hold steady
It’s been almost a year since the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system eliminated fines for late returns and wiped the system of all outstanding late fines, as part of a nationwide effort to remove economic barriers to the library for low-income residents. Based on the data collected since the fine-free program’s start last July, Harold Escalante, the assistant director of collections and access, said the library won’t be returning to fines anytime soon.
Here are some highlights of what the library has seen since it went fine-free:
Since July 1, 2021, 25% of all checked-out books were returned late, compared with 14% that were returned late in the pre-pandemic 2018 fiscal year. Escalante said he believes the data could be skewed because of Covid, so he said it’s hard to know if the change is attributed to the fine-free program.
Wait times for books haven’t changed much. Waits for items currently do not typically exceed 9 weeks, which was also the case before the fine-free program, Escalante said. The library has a 3-to-1 hold ratio, meaning that for every three library customers, the library has one book to ensure wait times stay below 9 weeks.
As expected, the library system has seen an increase in check-outs since the beginning of the pandemic as more people are returning to the libraries.
What the rules are: Under the new policy adopted last July, there are still penalties for failing to return library books. Customers must renew after 14 days to be allowed to check out more items from the system. If an item is more than 60 days overdue, the library assumes it’s lost and charges a replacement fee. But the item can still be returned if found without a late fine or replacement fee.
“The goal of the library is always to eliminate barriers to information,” Escalante said. “Charging fines for items limits access to our resources and our facilities, which is the opposite of what we want for our community.” —LB
Related Ledger article:
“What happens when libraries go fine-free?” (🔒, June 4, 2021)
A couple of summer book recommendations from readers
Earlier this month, we published a list of new books by North Carolina writers recommended by Sally Deason of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. We invited readers to send in their own recommendations, and we got suggestions for a couple you might want to check out:
“‘Poster Girls’ by Meredith Ritchie. Well-written, well-researched historical fiction that was not only entertaining but introduced me to a piece of Charlotte’s history I never knew about.” —Mamie S. [Incidentally, author Meredith Ritchie was one of The Ledger’s 40 Over 40 winners this year.]
“I just read Joy Callaway’s most recent book, ‘The Grand Design.’ It was so good! I couldn’t put it down. It’s the story of Dorothy Draper designing the Greenbrier. Joy lives in Charlotte, but much of her family is from West Virginia.” —Natalie C.
“‘The Grand Design’ by Joy Callaway. It just came out a month ago. It’s a novel about real life Dorothy Draper’s interior design of The Greenbrier hotel. Beautifully written book!” —Liz F.
(Note: If you want to meet Joy Callaway in person, she’ll be leading a discussion with Charlotte author Leslie Hooten tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Park Road Books about Hooten’s new novel, “After Everyone Else.”) —CB
In brief:
Officers shoot armed robbery suspect: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers shot a suspect on Sunday who they said opened fire on them after robbing a Food Lion by flashing a gun. The shooting took place along Tuckaseegee Road and Mulberry Pond Drive in west Charlotte. The suspect had life-threatening injuries as of Sunday night. (WSOC)
BofA to cover abortion travel: Bank of America is joining other large financial firms in saying it will cover the travel costs of employees needing to go out of state for abortions and other reproductive healthcare, the bank said Friday. (Reuters)
Destroying black wealth: Axios Charlotte has a big article out this morning about how the destruction of Charlotte’s Brooklyn neighborhood uptown under urban renewal policies decades ago cost the city’s black residents millions in generational wealth.
Christian retirement expansion: Carmel Hills, a Christian retirement community by Colony and Carmel roads, is planning an expansion to add independent living cottages and build a 3-story senior living facility on its 15-acre site, according to rezoning documents filed with the city.
Bonds on the way: The City Council is expected to take steps tonight to start the process of putting $146.2M in street bonds, $29.8M in neighborhood improvement bonds and $50M in housing bonds on November’s ballot.
Bruton Smith funeral scheduled for Thursday: The funeral for Charlotte businessman Bruton Smith has been set for Thursday at 1 p.m. at Central Church, 5301 Sardis Road, in southeast Charlotte. It’s open to the public, and guests are asked to arrive by 12:30. Smith, who founded Speedway Motorsports and Sonic Automotive, died last week at age 95. (WSOC)
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project