Clackamas, Oregon, U.S.A.-based Pacific Seafood is involved in at least three lawsuits related to the operation of its Galveston Shrimp Company subsidiary.
The most recent, filed 23 September, involves a suit brought by the company’s former finance director, Justin Ottman, who claims his employment was wrongfully terminated after he raised concerns about potential fraud involving Galveston Shrimp Company (GSC), a shrimp processor based in Galveston, Texas, U.S.A. that Pacific acquired in 2011.
Ottman filed a 170-page report with the company after being asked to investigate the business practices of GSC in April 2023. Ottman allegedly determined Pacific Seafood had received between USD 10 million and USD 20 million (EUR 9 million and EUR 18.1 million) in ill-gotten gains from falsifying the weight and size of shrimp it bought from local fishermen.
Ottman is seeking USD 2.3 million (EUR 2 million) from Pacific, claiming it violated the Oregon Family Leave Act and the state’s law against whistleblower retaliation, after he was first demoted as director of finance, and eventually fired in December 2023 after eliminating his position.
“Mr. Ottman is no whistleblower. He was part of a team sent to Galveston, Texas, at the direction of Pacific Seafood’s legal department to investigate concerns we had related to our business partner at Galveston Shrimp Company. The team provided their findings to legal, as requested,” Pacific Seafood Communications Director Lacy Ogan said in a statement provided to SeafoodSource. “Ottman had a very limited role in that investigation and his recollection is both factually inaccurate and an inappropriate breach of the company’s attorney-client privilege.”
Ogan said the company’s internal investigation into GSC has resulted in a separate lawsuit filed against the subsidiary’s former CEO, Nello Cassarino, and that Pacific is working to amend issues related to his misbehavior.
“Because that litigation is ongoing, we are unable to comment further. Once our investigation is complete and we have all of the facts, we are committed to ensuring accountability and if our fishing partners were affected, we will be sure to do right by them,” Ogan said. “It is absolutely false that Mr. Ottman’s separation from the company had anything to do with his limited involvement in the Galveston investigation. Mr. Ottman was very upset when his position was eliminated, and he appears to be taking his frustrations out in court. We are confident that the facts will show Pacific Seafood has done nothing wrong.”
In its suit against Cassarino, which like Ottman’s suit is being heard in Oregon's Multinomah County Circuit Court, Pacific is seeking …
