Ex-Percussionaire director files suit
SANDPOINT — Percussionaire’s former president and managing director is suing the owner of the Sagle-based medical equipment manufacturer for allegedly withholding his salary and failing to repay a loan he made to the company.
Priest Lake Dr. Loel Fenwick is seeking damages for unjust enrichment and breach of contract. The suit was filed in 1st District Court on July 1. Cathy Bird Natoni, the daughter of company founder Dr. Forrest Morton Bird, is the defendant in the civil action.
Fenwick contends he was brought on board the company in 2013 as its director and general manager and dismissed by Natoni Bird in January. However, Fenwick contends he deferred his salary while with the company.
“In consideration of Percussionaire’s financial situation Loel Fenwick agreed to defer his $15,000 per month salary,” Fenwick’s attorney, Todd Reuter, said in the suit.
Fenwick’s tenure coincided with complex litigation the company brought against the company’s former CEO, Dr. Adel Bougatef. The company accused Bougatef of creating a skunkworks — a secret company within the company — to develop a competing line of ventilators and equipment which Percussionaire said was meant to displace it from the marketplace.
The sides reached a confidential agreement that settled the suit last month.
Reuter argues his client is owed $341,000 in back wages, which are liquidated damages and can therefore be tripled to more than $1 million if Fenwick prevails.
Fenwick further contends he made a series of loans to Percussionaire totaling $275,000, which the company allegedly balked at repaying.
All told, Fenwick is seeking up to $1.3 million in damages from Percussionaire, according to court documents.
Percussionaire’s corporate counsel, Sandpoint attorney Ford Elsaesser, said Fenwick repeatedly asserted to company officials that he was offering his services without compensation as a favor to the Birds.
“Percussionaire strongly disputes that he is owed any wages at all, let alone triple damages,” Elsaesser said.
Elsaesser acknowledged Fenwick’s loans to the company and said that Fenwick will be repaid.
“It’s very unfortunate Dr. Fenwick and his lawyers would make this attack on Dr. Bird’s legacy,” Elsaesser added.
Elsaesser said the company is stabilized and its products are continuing to gain traction for treating respiratory illnesses as opposed to therapies which treat the symptoms.
Forrest Bird died at the age of 94 on Aug. 4, 2015. Riddle Bird died when her plane crashed into Round Top Mountain in Hope two months later. The plane crash also killed passengers Tookie and Don Hensley.
The crash has remained in the preliminary phase of investigation for the last eight months, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s Aviation Accident Database.
Preliminary findings indicate that the Cessna 182P airplane, which filled to its capacity with fuel, collided with large pine trees near a ridge line and was destroyed by a post-crash fire. The trio was headed to North Dakota, Maine and ultimately Florida, according to the preliminary NTSB report.
Family members of the plane’s passengers intend to seek up to $4 million in damages for wrongful death, according to documents filed in the Bird estate case. They allege that the Cessna was improperly operated or maintained, court records show.