DOT’s Foxx sued by bankrupt bus company who claims he did little work for big pay

Secretary Anthony Foxx testifying before Congress earlier this year.Secretary Anthony Foxx testifying before Congress earlier this year.

A bankruptcy trustee for a bus manufacturer is suing DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, alleging there is sparse proof he performed any work for the nearly $421,000 he received from the company.

DesignLine USA of Charlotte, N.C., filed for Chapter 11 in August 2013. The month before, Foxx had resigned as the company’s in-house deputy general counsel and as the city’s mayor to head the DOT. Foxx had served as counsel for the maker of electric, diesel and alternative fuel transit buses since December 2009.

Foxx’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment, though Charlotte-based media outlets have quoted him as hinting the lawsuit is part of a litigation blitz by the bankrupt bus maker.

Last month, Elaine T. Rudisill, the case’s liquidating trustee, filed an adversary proceeding, a separate lawsuit within the bankruptcy. She asserts while Foxx was deputy general counsel, DesignLine also paid two outside law firms millions of dollars. Company records do not reflect communications between him and the law offices the company engaged. Further, Rudisill stated she could not find evidence of Foxx’s activities as DesignLine counsel and that he had spent little to no time at the company’s facilities.

Rudisill also filed an adversary proceeding to recover $300,000 from Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrik Motorsports, which has four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams. Hendrik had loaned DesignLine $800,000 and the company had repaid him $300,000. The proceeding alleges his loan never benefited DesignLine and seeks to recover the $300,000 it repaid.