TPG defeats motion to dismiss media leak suit

Former head of global public affairs at TPG Adam Levine failed to persuade a judge in the US District Court of the Northern District of Texas to throw out TPG’s media leak case against him. Levine’s attorneys had been fighting since April 2 to get the case dismissed based on matters of jurisdiction.

TPG filed the lawsuit against Levine in late January, claiming that he stole confidential firm documents and computers, threatened partners and shared altered information with the media after being denied a promotion. Levine fired back on April 2 with a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against TPG in the US District Court of the Northern District of California. He then filed a motion in Northern Texas District Court to dismiss TPG’s complaint, challenging its jurisdiction claims.

TPG responded with a second amended complaint on April 17, claiming it had federal-question jurisdiction over the case (in which a suit must claim the defendant broke a federal law). The amendment added allegations that Levine’s actions violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Levine also challenged this second jurisdiction claim, attempted to vacate the order that granted TPG leave to file the amended complaint, and filed another motion to dismiss the case entirely.

The court ruled Monday to deny his motion, saying it was satisfied that TPG gave Levine fair notice of the claims regarding the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and stating TPG had grounds on which to pursue the case in the state of Texas.

The lawsuit claims that Levine’s actions were part of an effort to “extort millions of dollars from TPG,” requires Levine to return all TPG property, enjoins him from “using, disclosing, or exploiting” confidential information, and seeks compensatory damages.

Levine’s California-based whistleblower suit against TPG is still ongoing.