The same law firm that was used to “advise and oversee” the recent investigations into TSM co-owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh also helped to defend TSM in a different case, according to The Jacob Wolf Report.
Documents obtained by Jacob Wolf detailed that attorney Matthew Marca and his firm, Gutierrez Marca, who helped to coordinate the investigation into Reginald and “review and compile” a statement released on May 27, defended TSM’s parent company Swift in a case brought on April 27. This case alleged the company had wrongfully terminated the contract of former Blitz marketing manager John Nguyen. When speaking to Wolf, a spokesperson for Swift explained that his work, in this case, did not impact the ongoing investigation into Reginald. The investigation into Reginald was done by Lynne Davis of Employment Investigation, Mediation and Counseling, a separate third party.
Nguyen’s lawsuit stemmed from alleged marijuana usage in the workplace by Blitz marketing director Nick Ward. Nguyen claimed he experienced excessive anxiety due to Ward’s alleged drug usage, and filed a complaint with Blitz HR. The complaint details that after Nguyen approached human resources manager Anna Kim to report Ward, he was told “one week later” that he had been fired from the company for allegations of sexual harassment. According to Nguyen’s attorney, he had never been questioned by anyone at Blitz regarding any such actions, and that no steps were ever taken to adhere to Nguyen’s rights under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Marca, who defended Swift in this case, explained in his response that the company “did not discriminate or retaliate against [Nguyen], but rather acted lawfully and for legitimate business reasons.”
Marca led his defense of TSM in this case while simultaneously being involved in the investigation into extensive complaints regarding Reginald. He helped to compile a report posted to Reginald’s Twitter account where it was written that “the investigator found no evidence of any unlawful behavior on the part of the company, its executives, or by [Reginald] personally.”
In this report, Marca claimed that his law firm’s role was to “advise and oversee” the investigations into Reginald. A spokesperson for Marca and Swift later told Wolf that neither Marca nor his law firm provided “oversight” for the investigation, but that it specifically helped coordinate communications between Swift, its human resources department, the independent firm conducting the investigation, and eventually Riot after the investigation was complete.
Update July 1 9:20pm CT: An earlier version of this article stated that a spokesperson for Gutierrez Marca spoke to Jacob Wolf. The spokesperson in question actually represented Matthew Marca, as well as Swift, and not the Gutierrez Marca law firm. This article has been updated to correct this error.
Update July 2 11:41pm CT: The article has been updated to identify Lynne Davis, who led the investigation into Reginald, of which a statement was posted on May 27. The headline has also been updated to accurately reflect the timeline of events.
