Руководство GreenPower Motor Company вызвано в суд за перемещение автобусов и игнорирование судебных приказов

CHARLESTON,. — The executive leadership of GreenPower Motor Company, Inc., has been summoned into a Kanawha County courtroom after moving assets out-of-state, defying a court order. Charleston attorney Travis Griffith from the Griffith Law Center said as many as seven buses were ordered to be frozen to satisfy a default judgement in favor of three former employees. The employees won default judgments in three discrimination complaints when the company failed to respond to multiple court orders to appear. “The judge has now ordered the president of the company, Brendan Riley, and the CEO of the company, Fraser Atkinson, to appear in her courtroom on September 11 to explain this,” Griffith said. There was no sign the company would comply with the three judgments that totaled around $2 million. In recent months, GreenPower Motor has announced expansion plans in the state of New Mexico after failing to meet development benchmarks in the Mountain State. According to Griffin, the company uses these buses to take to state capitals as part of the sales pitch for tax credits, incentives, and economic development money. “They were specified by the VIN number that we discovered that would remain in the state of West Virginia as collateral for these judgements because the judge was realizing they were moving assets out of the state,” Griffith said. Griffith went to the South Charleston facility and learned the drivers transporting the buses were not aware of the court order. During the course of loading the buses out, Griffith learned the buses were being taken to Seattle, Washington. The action taken by the company could expose them to a criminal referral that would be aggravated if they fail to appear in court later this week. “Unfortunately we couldn’t file a motion fast enough,” Griffith said. “There is a possible referral to the Kanawha County Prosecutor’s Office for the removal of these buses.” Friday, if the senior leaders do not appear in the Kanawha County Circuit Courtroom, it is possible Judge Jennifer Bailey could find them in contempt and have them incarcerated. GreenPower Motor Company and their representatives have consistently ignored court orders over the last 18 months. “Judges like their orders followed,” Griffith said. “The first thing they teach you in law school is that at the end of the day make sure you’re on the right side of the bars, and that’s what I’ve always intended to do when I follow court orders—GreenPower Motor Company has no interest in following the orders of these courts.” A select group of the 89 employees were offered the opportunities to take classes at the expense of GreenPower Motor Company and a $300,000 grant from the state Learn and Earn program. Those employees received layoff notices in early 2025 citing the Trump tariff policies while simultaneously negotiating a new, similar relationship with the state of New Mexico. “After they left their jobs around a month and a half down the road, these people started getting bills from Bridge Valley Community and Technical College because GreenPower Motor was not paying their tuition,” Griffith said. In West Virginia the company received $15 million from the state for the purchase of buses, $18.5 million through the U.S. EPA and the Clean School Bus Program, and a $300,000 Learn and Earn Grant. While promising to create up to 900 jobs at the South Charleston facility. In New Mexico, the company has received nearly $15 million in incentives and has promised to create 340 jobs and $200 million in economic impact over the next ten years. Bridge Valley Community and Technical College has not responded to a request for comment.