A businessman is suing Privatis Technology Corp. and Steven J. McAuley, a former colleague, for allegedly excluding him from an online service he says he founded to protect private sellers on classified ad sites from fraud and robocall harassment called ControlBox.com.
Mike Nichols filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on October 23, claiming he brought the idea for the business to McAuley, who supported it and agreed to strike up a 50-50 partnership. McAuley, a former colleague of Nichols’ at non-party Mota Motors, allegedly assured him that they’d always be equal partners in the business.
According to the lawsuit, McAuley publicly admitted that ControlBox was Nichols’ brainchild and touted him as “an accomplished innovator of internet automotive retailing processes.”
But Nichols claims that in early 2011, McAuley “wrongfully excluded” him from the business and set up Privatis Technology and transferred ControlBox to the corporate defendant.
Nichols seeks punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages, an accounting and an order for defendants to hold an interest in Privatis for his benefit in a constructive trust. None of the allegations has been proven in court, and the defendants had not filed a response at press time.
