Van Conway was thrown out of the firm he founded and he’s filed a lawsuit against his business partners.
Conway co-founded Conway MacKenzie, a company that has 100 people in half a dozen offices across the country.
“They called an emergency meeting and I wasn’t aware of it and I wasn’t invited to it,” Conway said.
At the time, Conway was in a hospital bed. He had complications from surgery last October that led him to tell his partners they might want someone else to lead the firm while he was rehabilitating.
“From what we can see it looks like they voted Don in to be the interim,” Conway said.
Don MacKenzie is the firm's co-founder.
“So they voted him in, my role was never determined and I kept asking what’s my role,” Conway said. “They proceeded to cut my pay massively and without telling me I might add.”
Before he knew it, he was out of the job, so he started a new firm, Conway and Partners, and has plans to move it to the floor above his old firm.
“Me being on the fourth floor wouldn’t be their first choice,” Conway said. “I’m only here because they have space and this is my home too.”
Conway claims his new company will be in the hospital, municipal and public private partnership space and a non-compete clause won’t be a problem.
“If I don’t work, I won’t be able to carry on the mission I have, really, for the kids in the city,” Conway said. “In my opinion, when they wake up in the wrong ZIP code, they have very little chance to get out.”
MacKenzie released the following statement:
“Our firm strives to treat all of its professionals with honesty, integrity and professionalism and have worked diligently to resolve this matter internally in an appropriate forum. We have every confidence in the legal system and of a positive outcome.”