Freight Essentials is pushing back against WWEX Group’s effort to maintain redactions in the third amended petition to Freight Essentials’ lawsuit against WWEX.
WWEX and its affiliates, Worldwide Express, GlobalTranz and Unishippers, filed a motion on Dec. 17 to maintain the redactions and seal the unredacted version.
The defendants argue that certain details in the lawsuit contain sensitive business information that, if disclosed, could harm their competitive position, but Freight Essentials, a logistics firm, says the industry might think otherwise.
“GlobalTranz, Worldwide Express and WWEX exploited consumers and partners, pocketing millions in ill-gotten gains. In a blatant attempt to prevent public scrutiny, they want to keep key details of their dishonest business activities hidden – I’m going to fight this and encourage others to join in opposing this motion,” said Dylan Admire, founder and CEO of Freight Essentials, said in a news release Thursday.
This motion follows Freight Essentials’ federal lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Texas, accusing WWEX Group and its affiliates of a hidden fee scheme involving fuel costs and cargo insurance.
RELATED: Freight Essentials takes aim at WWEX Group in federal lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that GlobalTranz misrepresented transportation costs, depriving business development companies of their rightful commission payments while allegedly inflating WWEX’s bottom line with undisclosed fees.
Additionally, Freight Essentials claims it was retaliated against for uncovering the scheme when its contract was terminated without proper notice.
WWEX Group’s latest legal move focuses on Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 76a, which allows courts to seal court records if a party can prove that disclosure would cause serious harm and that no alternative method exists to protect the information.
The motion cites over 20 paragraphs and multiple footnotes in the third amended petition that purportedly contain trade secrets and commercially sensitive data, including business plans, consultant growth strategies, key partnerships, revenue and margin data, details of GlobalTranz’s parcel program, and alleged privileged attorney-client communications.
The defendants argue that keeping these details under seal does not harm the public interest, as the core allegations of Freight Essentials’ complaint remain available in the unredacted portions of the lawsuit.
If the court grants their request, the unredacted version of the petition will remain sealed. If denied, the public could gain further insight into WWEX’s internal business dealings and the specifics of the alleged hidden fee scheme.
In the Thursday release, Freight Essentials urged industry parties that opposed the redaction to file a Motion to Intervene with the 44th Judicial District Court of Dallas County or attend the court hearing in person to express their concerns on Feb. 7 at 11:00 a.m. CST.
“They claim that their interest in sealing these records outweighs the public’s right to access them. The defendants’ actions violated public trust and had a direct impact on consumers and partners. If the defendants have done nothing wrong, why do they want to sweep these court records under the rug? Sealing these records would set a dangerous precedent, allowing corporations to conceal fraudulent and anti-competitive conduct that affects countless people,” said Rogge Dunn, legal counsel for Freight Essentials, in a recent release of the motion.
FreightWaves has reached out to WWEX Group for comment.
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