According to a report from The Daily Beast, conservative media organization Project Veritas has initiated legal action against its founder, James O’Keefe. The lawsuit alleges that O’Keefe engaged in employee mistreatment, incurred substantial personal expenses using company accounts, and utilized Project Veritas resources to establish a competing media outlet.
The legal dispute, filed on Wednesday in a federal court in New York, arises from a deepening rift between O’Keefe and Project Veritas, the right-wing undercover video operation he established in 2010. Earlier this year, a group of Project Veritas employees penned a letter claiming that O’Keefe had transformed into a “power-drunk tyrant” who displayed outright cruelty toward staff members. Examples cited ranged from O’Keefe allegedly consuming a sandwich belonging to a pregnant coworker to utilizing company funds for theatrical productions.
In February, James O’Keefe was suspended and shortly thereafter revealed the establishment of a new organization called O’Keefe Media Group (OMG), which bears similarities to Project Veritas. Project Veritas alleges that O’Keefe initiated his new venture while utilizing Project Veritas resources, including donor lists and laptops.
When approached for comment by The Daily Beast, neither Project Veritas nor O’Keefe responded. Additionally, two former Project Veritas employees named defendants in the lawsuit either did not respond or could not be contacted for comment.
Project Veritas asserts that O’Keefe’s erratic conduct violated the terms of the contract even prior to his establishment of OMG. During an internal investigation conducted earlier this year to examine O’Keefe’s behavior, the company’s board received allegations indicating that O’Keefe frequently engaged in unprofessional behavior during team meetings. These allegations included instances of O’Keefe shouting at and demeaning colleagues, focusing on female employees. It was claimed that he made disparaging remarks about their contributions to the company and made inappropriate comments about personal matters such as pregnancies.
Furthermore, employees reportedly stated that they personally witnessed explicit messages exchanged between O’Keefe and various women on social media platforms while accessing O’Keefe’s phone for work-related purposes.
According to employees, the unprofessional behavior also extended to financial matters. The lawsuit claims that O’Keefe regularly displayed tardiness for meetings and exhibited rudeness during VIP events intended to provide donors with additional access to O’Keefe. As a result, strained relationships developed with several donors.
The lawsuit accuses O’Keefe of assigning personal tasks to employees, such as cleaning his boat and running errands like picking up his laundry. While employed at Project Veritas, O’Keefe allegedly misused company funds for questionable purposes. These actions included spending over $10,000 on a helicopter flight from New York to Maine without clear benefits to Project Veritas. O’Keefe also reportedly expensed first-class air travel and luxury accommodations.
