Luminar claims founder Austin Russell is dodging a subpoena in the bankruptcy case

Summary

Lidar-maker Luminar says its founder and former CEO Austin Russell has been evading requests for information — including a subpoena — that the company needs in order to decide whether it should take legal action against him. The company, which entered the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in late December, said in an emergency filing over the weekend that it has been trying to reclaim company-owned devices from Russell since his resignation in May. While it has recovered six computers, Luminar is still seeking Russell’s company-issued phone and a digital copy of his personal phone. Luminar’s lawyers also wrote in the filing that Russell and his own personal employees repeatedly misled legal representatives about the founder’s location over the holidays. They’re asking the court for permission to instead serve Russell by mail or email. A lawyer for Luminar declined to comment further. In emails attached to the filing, Russell claimed he was being cooperative and has been trying to get assurances from Luminar that any personal data from his devices will be protected. “The company declined, so we will follow the court-established process for data handling protections instead,” Leonard Shulman, an attorney for Russell, told TechCrunch in a statement. The emergency filing is one of the first major twists in a fast-moving bankruptcy case that involves Luminar trying to sell the two main parts of its business. The company is seeking court approval of an already-reached agreement to sell its semiconductor subsidiary to a company called Quantum Computing, Inc., and has established a January 9 deadline for bids on its lidar division. Russell, through his new venture Russell AI Labs, tried to buy Luminar before the Chapter 11 filing and has expressed plans to make a bid in the bankruptcy process. “As it relates to Luminar, our focus remains on what matters: Russell AI Labs’ bid to rebuild the company and bring value to its stakeholders,” Shulman said. Techcrunch event San Francisc...