Luminar founder and former CEO Austin Russell has agreed to accept an electronic subpoena for information on his phone. This is part of the lidar maker’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, according to a new filing on Tuesday.
Russell now has seven days to file a motion to quash the subpoena or object to it. Otherwise, he has fourteen days to comply with the order.
This agreement comes two weeks after Luminar’s lawyers accused Russell of avoiding the subpoena by turning away process servers at the gate to his Florida mansion. Russell had previously argued he was unwilling to turn over his phone until he received assurances that his personal information would be protected. The Tuesday filing shows the two sides have now agreed to work out the exact steps for how that information will be handled.
Luminar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. This followed the loss of major contracts with customers like Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, as well as rising competition from lidar companies in China.
Last week, Luminar reached a deal to sell its lidar assets to a company called Quantum Computing Inc. for twenty-two million dollars. Luminar is also trying to sell its semiconductor division to the same company for one hundred and ten million dollars. The company has scheduled an auction for the end of this month in an attempt to solicit bids that might beat the offer from Quantum Computing Inc.
Russell had tried to buy Luminar in October. This was months after his abrupt resignation as CEO due to an ethics inquiry, but before the company filed for bankruptcy. Representatives for his new venture, Russell AI Labs, have stated that he remains interested in submitting a bid for Luminar’s lidar assets, but a formal offer has not yet been submitted.
Luminar has been seeking information from Russell since his resignation as it decides whether to take legal action against him. The founder has already turned over multiple computers but held on to his phone because of privacy concerns. Luminar originally claimed it was seeking two phones from Russell, one company-issued and one personal. Russell has since said in court filings that he only ever had one phone during his time at the company.