EDN Global, Its CEO Urge Denial of AT&T’s Motion to Dismiss Contract Claims

AT&T’s Aug. 1 motion to dismiss (see 2308020058) should be denied because plaintiffs EDN Global and CEO Jerome Edmondson “alleged facts, which, if proven, state a claim for relief on each claim asserted,” said the plaintiffs’ opposition Monday (docket 3:23-cv-00355). The case stems from when Edmondson became AT&T’s first authorized minority dealer for the Commerce Department’s FirstNet public safety broadband network (see 2307130013). He alleges he lost more than $100 million in damages after AT&T pilfered his trade secrets, and inserted an all-white AT&T sales team to replace a qualified all-African American sales team and destroyed the sales organization he built. AT&T’s facts are inaccurate about the breach of contract, said the opposition. The contract claims against AT&T didn’t accrue until March 2021, it said. The plaintiffs also filed their action in June 2022, “well within the statute of limitations,” it said. The plaintiffs’ tort claims aren’t barred by the economic loss rule, it said. The tort claims are independent of the alleged contract with AT&T, and the plaintiffs’ losses aren’t “purely economic,” it said. If the economic loss rule is found to be applicable, “its application is barred by the misrepresentation exception,” it said.