Belk lawsuit: Settlement talks begin in its lawsuit against former CEO and GameStop

Three weeks after Belk sued its former CEO, another ex-executive and the company they both work for, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, new court filings show a settlement and case dismissal are possible.

On Aug. 22, the Charlotte-based department store chain filed a lawsuit in federal court in North Carolina against former CEO Nir Patel, former senior vice president of supply chain Tim May and video game store GameStop Corp., accusing them of stealing its employees and payroll information, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

GameStop executives, including its CEO Matt Furlong, encouraged “unfair and deceptive trade practices,” according to the lawsuit, by aiding Patel’s poaching of high-ranking Belk employees.

Belk is seeking damages anddemanding that Patel, GameStop and May stop sharing confidential employment information and recruiting its employees.

Responses from the defendants had been due Sept. 13.

On Tuesday, GameStop, “with consent of Plaintiff Belk,” requested a 10-day deadline extension for all of the defendants to respond, saying settlement discussions are ongoing and have been productive, court filings show. An agreement could result in the dismissal of the complaint, according to GameStop.

“The parties require a brief extension to finalize the draft settlement agreement,” the request stated. GameStop is being represented by Adam Doerr of Robinson, Bradshaw and Hinson in Charlotte.

May is being represented by Marc Gustafson of Bell, Davis and Pitt in Charlotte. No counsel for Patel is listed in the court filings.

Belk is being represented by Jacob Wharton and Patrick Spaugh of Womble Bond Dickinson.

The latest Belk CEO

Also this week, Belk named Don Hendricks as its CEO to replace Patel.

Patel left the company in May after less than a year in the role, and that same month, was hired as GameStop’s chief operating officer.

Patel, who had worked in various roles at Belk for five years, had replaced Lisa Harper five months after the iconic department store chain emerged from bankruptcy.

Harper had been CEO since 2016 and was the company’s first CEO outside the Belk family. In 2015, New York-based Sycamore Partners acquired the Belk family’s iconic department store chain for $3 billion.

‘Beauty Bash’

Among its stores, is launching a customer-service initiative this week at some locations.

Belk is putting a focus on its beauty department, according to a company news release on Tuesday. Over the last few months, Belk has hired more than 300 “beauty consultants” companywide.

“Beauty continues to be a main sales driver for retailers,” Hendricks said in a statement. “We’re revitalizing our approach to beauty by adding more staff, as well as unveiling new product lines in the future.”

A four-day “Beauty Bash” event through Sunday is part of the retailer’s revitalized approach to its growing beauty department, according to the news release.

The event is being held at 105 stores, including 21 in North Carolina. Stores in the Charlotte region are: SouthPark and Northlake malls in Charlotte, Carolina Mall in Concord and Carolina Place mall in Pineville, as well as in Monroe and Gastonia.

Belk has nearly 300 locations in 16 Southeastern states. Belk has about 17,000 full- and part-time workers at its stores and distribution center, and about 1,200 corporate employees in Charlotte.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 5:30 AM.