CONWAY | An Horry County judge on Tuesday gave about 300 time share sales agents the right to go after Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel and other company executives in an attempt to collect past-due pay totaling $600,000.
Judge Michael Baxley said the Westgate executives and related corporations can be added to a list of parties with potential liability for paying the debt because CFI Sales & Marketing Ltd., the original defendant in the case, defaulted on a settlement agreement reached in January to pay the employees.
Baxley also questioned whether CFI -- the Orlando, Fla.-based Westgate subsidiary that sells time shares in Myrtle Beach and elsewhere -- had acted in bad faith when it agreed to the January settlement, which ended a lawsuit against the company.
Baxley said he will consider sanctioning CFI for its conduct after its lawyer, Richard Epstein, said Tuesday that the company never actually promised to pay the money.
All CFI has promised to do is to allow a judgment to be entered against them, Epstein said. There has never been a promise to pay. We have a final judgment. This case is over.
Baxley said he disagrees and would not have used substantial judicial resources working with lawyers toward a settlement agreement if he had known that CFI had no intention of paying the workers.
Baxley said he will rule on whether sanctions are warranted at a later date.
CFI in January agreed to pay $650,000 in past-due commissions to the workers within 180 days. CFI made payments of $25,000 apiece in February and March but missed a July 14 deadline to pay the balance.
Connell said Siegel, Westgate and others are hiding behind CFIs corporate structure to avoid paying the debt. Baxleys ruling allows Connell to pierce the corporate veil and pursue the individuals and related companies behind the corporate structure.
Read more about this story in Wednesday's edition of The Sun News
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