Gatesway quickly fell from steady financial footing and tumbled into debts so unmanageable its leaders began frantically liquidating assets, laying off employees and picking off clients they deemed “unprofitable” just to pay its bills.
There is no timeline for how the case will proceed, but briefs will likely be submitted to the high court through the summer, with oral arguments to occur in autumn, and a decision by the court being issued by June 2019, an Oklahoma AG’s Office spokesman said Monday.
While both Continental Resources and Devon Energy supported a failed plan that included a 4 percent tax increase on oil and gas production, they balked at a later 5 percent increase.
Glover’s attorney said the family did not dupe or take advantage of Roundtree or its president Matt Stinson, who flew to Tulsa and met with Glover at his home prior to the sale of Jim Glover Chevrolet in 2017.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants committed fraud, civil conspiracy, interference with contract and business relations, misappropriation of trade secrets, deceptive trade practices and numerous breaches of contract.
When crude oil prices crashed between 2014 and 2016, many Oklahoma energy companies booked sizable losses that can be used to reduce or completely eliminate state income tax liability for up to 20 years.
Lamb’s no-tax increase campaign has played well with business leaders, and he’s has received ample support from the energy industry including political action committees backed by some of the state’s largest oil and gas companies.
A spokesman for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that the state will seek to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
