Rick Santorum's Christian Production Company Sues Former Execs for 'Sabotage'
Rick Santorum's Dallas-based Christian film production company EchoLight Studios is suing two of the company's former executives for allegedly attempting to "sabotage" the company.
The lawsuit filed earlier this week in Tarrant County, Texas alleges that EchoLight Studio's former executives Bobby Downes and Christopher Morrow had embarked on a "campaign of sabotage" against the film production company after they were recently fired by Santorum, the company's CEO.
Downes, the company's former president, and Morrow, the company's former chief global strategist, were fired by Santorum recently after reportedly acting insubordinately toward their superior. According to Courthouse News Service, one of the first outlets to report on the lawsuit, Downes was fired after he "disparaged one of EchoLight's principals" to business affiliates, while Morrow was fired after refusing to give Santorum financial information regarding an upcoming film.
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The lawsuit argues that after their termination, Morrow and Downes began a "campaign of sabotage" against the company that included saying negative comments about EchoLight that caused at least two business partners to end their relationship with the company. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that shortly after the firing of Downes and Morrow, the company's Facebook page was hacked and all fellow administrators were blocked from accessing the social media page. Someone then uploaded an article about Downes that "inaccurately" described him as the company's co-founder.
"Upon information and belief, either defendant Downes or defendant Morrow, or both, were behind this hijacking of EchoLight's Facebook account," the lawsuit states.
Santorum, who formerly ran for the 2012 presidential GOP nomination, took the position of CEO at EchoLight in June. The company has previously described itself as "the first vertically integrated faith-based movie studio to offer production financing, marketing and distribution across all releasing platforms."
"This is the right place and right time, and I've jumped in with both feet," Santorum said at the time of his CEO announcement in June. "I often say that culture is upstream from politics, and I know entertainment also can be strength and light for people who want to be uplifted and reinforced in their values."
