CLARKSBURG – A gas production firm being sued for breach of contract is petitioning to move the case from state to federal court.
EQT Production Co. filed the motion May 10 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
In the original complaint, Carl L. Goff, Richard H. Barnard, Eleanor R. Hill, Kathy Butcher, Cinda Padgitt and Jeffrey Hill filed a lawsuit April 19 in Ritchie Circuit Court against EQT and Hawkeye Research Inc., alleging breach of contract, fraud, breach of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duties.
The plaintiffs claim Hawkeye, on behalf of EQT, fraudulently induced them to sign a lease modification concerning their Clay district property that allowed EQT to deduct production costs from the royalties they are owed. In its motion to remove, EQT says Hawkeye is erroneously named in the original suit.
Through counsel, EQT argues that the case falls under federal jurisdiction because the principal parties are in different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Goff and the other original plaintiffs seek a jury trial and punitive and compensatory damages, as well as legal costs. They are represented by attorneys Joel Baker and Calvin Honaker of Baker & Honaker PLLC in Ripley.
EQT is represented by attorneys David K. Hendrickson and Barbara A. Samples of Hendrickson & Long PLLC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Case number 1:16-cv-00085