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Trinity Cathedral has proven to be a unique — and magical — setting for concert series — P. 5 State’s new tax proposal for e-cigarettes could put some local companies out of business — P. 6
TCP’s minority shareholders have options By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
A lawsuit against TCP CEO Ellis Yan portrays him as a guy who runs roughshod over his management team and, in the process, minority shareholders. As a guy who acts like he owns the place. Technically, he does not own the place. Technically. But he still has a huge amount of control over the Aurora-based company — a major player in the lighting products industry. So if you’re a minority shareholder who agrees with the claims made in the lawsuit, know this: You have options, but it might be hard to replace Yan as CEO or make other big changes at the company. Two weeks ago, TCP general counsel Laura Hauser filed a lawsuit against Yan and the company itself. The suit alleges that Yan “physically assaulted” her, threatened her and pressured managers to release mislabeled products. It also claims that Yan barks orders, ignores company policies and makes big decisions without consulting other managers. Yan issued a statement saying the lawsuit is “meritless,” but he argues that his “results-oriented leadership style” is the reason why TCP now
has 7,000 employees worldwide and $400 million in sales. And to some degree, he can do things his way: He and his family own 70% of TCP’s shares, and the family has agreed to let Yan choose who gets elected to the company’s board. Some board members apparently do want Yan to make changes: The lawsuit states that TCP’s audit committee told Yan he needs to “promptly and substantially” change the way he runs the company. But it’s unclear if the entire board will force Yan to do so, given that he sits on the board and decides who sits next to him. Even so, minority shareholders who want a company to make changes do have some options, according to local lawyers who aren’t affiliated with TCP. For instance, they could file more lawsuits. That’s already happening in TCP’s case, though the shareholders aren’t leading the charge: Law firms have filed at least seven class action lawsuits claiming that TCP misled investors about its product certifications and other issues. None of them had announced a lead plaintiff as of last Thursday, March 5. Or they could file a shareholder See TCP, page 17
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Vol. 36, No. 10 Entire contents © 2015 by Crain Communications Inc.
GEIS COMPANIES
Lawsuits can put pressure on board, but unseating Yan as CEO will be very difficult
FROM THE PUBLISHER
THE PLAN THAT SOLD
A CONVENTION How a local firm took action to ensure the RNC chose Cleveland You’d think the proposal would have made Greg Geis — or any developer — run away. Design a temporary conversion of the Gateway East parking garage into a 300,000-square-foot office building to serve as the media center for the 2016 Republican National Convention. Do it without the benefit of specifications or blueprints. Do it in 10 days. And, oh yeah, do it all for free. It took less than two minutes for Geis to agree.
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We don’t know whether the Republican National Committee will end up using the garage, which sits next to Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena, as the
BY JOHN CAMPANELLI
media center or if they’ll choose the Convention Center option. That decision will be made by the party in the next few months. But both are included in the bid. And if a complete conversion of the garage is the choice, a detailed plan exists on how to do it. How that plan was created is one of the best behindthe-scenes stories of Cleveland’s victorious bid to land the convention. It’s also an inspiring example of the kind of collaboration that is fueling Cleveland’s rebirth.
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After Cleveland’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2008 GOP convention, Jon Pinney, the Kohrman Jackson & Krantz attorney who wrote the city’s bid, was chatting with party leader Bill Harris on an outdoor terrace at the See CONVENTION, page 22