VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- (Business Wire)
Penny Green, Co-founder, Director, and largest shareholder of Glance
Technologies Inc. (“Glance” or the “Company”) (CSE:GET.CN) (CSE:GET.WT)
(OTCQB:GLNNF) (FKT:GJT), controlling 11.17%, highlights another one of
CEO Desmond Griffin’s indiscretions – namely a 2016 civil claim against
him which cost the Company an enormous opportunity to enter a lucrative
vertical.
On April 11, 2016, Buyatab Online Inc, an eGift Card service provider,
filed an action against Mr. Griffin claiming ownership of the Glance Pay
App. Specifically, Buyatab alleged that Mr. Griffin, while employed as
Buyatab’s Chief Technological Officer, used confidential information to
develop a “similar technology” at Glance while contractually obligated
to “devote the whole of his working time and attention to the business
of (Buyatab).”
The civil suit was settled out-of-court with Mr. Griffin forced to forgo
his Buyatab stock options and Glance forced not to enter the eGift card
‘space’ for a period of two years.
Alarmingly, Mr. Griffin has failed to disclose his CTO position with
Buyatab in any of his disclosure materials, including the information
circular Glance’s management mailed to shareholders.
“I was shocked when I learned in March 2016 that Mr. Griffin was
secretly working for both Buyatab and Glance at the same time. I was led
to believe that Mr. Griffin was working for Glance on an exclusive
basis,” said Ms. Green. “Buyatab doesn’t appear anywhere on Mr.
Griffin’s LinkedIn profile. He also seems to downplay his tenure with
that company in all his bios. His bio in Glance’s circular, for example,
only makes a cursory reference to Buyatab, as part of his ‘consulting’
experience. Maybe Mr. Griffin doesn’t believe his deception of both
Buyatab and Glance was a big deal? The truth of the matter is that it
was a huge deal for Glance in that it kept us out of an important
vertical, hurting our overall opportunity.”
OPPORTUNITY LOST: AN $18 BILLION INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES
According to research firm Gartner
(formerly CEB), digital gift cards made up about $5.5 billion in
gift card purchases in the United States in 2014. In 2015, they were up
to $7.1 billion and by the end of 2018, Gartner forecasts an $18 billion
market share. That’s an increase of over 200% since 2014.
This was the opportunity that Glance missed out on, fully due to Mr.
Griffin’s major indiscretion.
TIMELINE OF MR. GRIFFIN’S INVOLVEMENT WITH BUYATAB
- December 2013:
Buyatab hires Mr. Griffin as its Chief
Technology Officer. As per a written contract of employment, Mr.
Griffin commits to devoting “the whole of his working time and
attention to the business of (Buyatab).”
- April 2014:
Mr. Griffin presents, to Buyatab’s Board of
Directors, a proposed iOS technology (the “Payment Option
Application”) — a mobile payment option — leveraging Buyatab’s
existing platform.
- October 2014:
Penny Green launches Glance Technologies as
a private company.
- 2015:
Having raised over $700,000 for this purpose, Ms.
Green advances money to Mr. Griffin to develop the Glance Pay App,
which Glance Technologies has agreed to acquire. (Mr. Griffin
subsequently falls more than a year behind schedule in delivering the
app).
- January 2015 to March 14, 2016:
Mr. Griffin works for
both Buyatab and Glance leading each company to believe that he was
working for them exclusively.
- March 14, 2016:
Buyatab becomes aware of Glance Pay
through a random internet search. Buyatab terminates Mr. Griffin’s
employment for cause.
- March 2016
Mr. Griffin alerts Ms. Green of Buyatab’s
termination and discloses that he was working for Buyatab while at the
same time working for Glance, without having advised Glance’s Board
that he was doing so Mr. Griffin demands a $15,000 salary increase
from Glance.
- April 11, 2016:
Buyatab files Notice of Civil Claim
against Mr. Griffin and Glance Technologies Inc. in the British
Columbia Supreme Court. Buyatab claims ownership of the Glance Pay App
and alleges breach of contract, breach of confidence and breach of
duty against Mr. Griffin.
- April 19, 2016:
The parties enter into a settlement
agreement whereby Mr. Griffin is forced to give up his Buyatab stock
options and Glance agrees not to enter the eGift card space for a
period of two years.
- Sept. 7, 2016:
Glance Technologies launches its initial
public offering.
THE DISTURBING NOTICE OF CIVIL CLAIM
As first highlighted in Ms. Green’s proxy circular, the civil claim
contains allegations against Mr. Griffin which, if true, provide
disturbing detail about his self-serving behaviour at Buyatab. A full
copy of the Notice of Civil Claim is available as a PDF on the
GlanceForward.com website.
Here’s an excerpt from the claim.
“In his capacity as a Chief Technology Officer, Desmond Griffin
recommended that the plaintiff retain Angela Griffin to develop the
Payment Option Application. Relying on Desmond Griffin’s recommendation,
the plaintiff contracted Angela Griffin to develop the Payment Option
Application.
“Angela Griffin is Desmond Griffin’s wife. Angela
Griffin never delivered the Payment Option Application to the plaintiff.
Instead, she and Desmond Griffin developed a technology derivative of
and highly similar to the Payment Option Application (the “Similar
Technology”) that was intended to enable mobile payments at restaurants.
“Desmond Griffin did not disclose the existence of
the Similar Technology to the plaintiff despite the fact that he had a
contractual and fiduciary obligation to disclose competing interests.
“Desmond Griffin incorporated or, in the alternative obtained control of
a shell corporation which is the defendant Glance Technologies Inc. for
the purpose of commercializing the Similar Technology for his own
benefit.
“Throughout the development of the Similar Technology, Desmond Griffin
continued his employment with the plaintiff. Further, during
his regular work hours, he spent significant time developing the Similar
Technology and working on his competitive business, without disclosing
this conduct to the plaintiff.”
A TRACK-RECORD OF FAILURE?
In the Glance circular, Mr. Griffin states that he’s worked for three
companies, including Glance, during the course of his professional
career.
Based on this disclosure, Mr. Griffin boasts a meagre track record: Out
of the three jobs he mentioned, one (Buyatab) ended in a lawsuit against
him while, with Glance, he’s involved in a proxy battle whereby a large
number of shareholders are trying to remove him.
Incidentally, in both instances – at Buyatab and Glance – Mr. Griffin
relied on his wife Angela Griffin as a programmer. Again, in both cases,
that ended badly.
IT’S TIME FOR A NEW BOARD AND NEW LEADERSHIP AT GLANCE: VOTE FOR A
REFRESHED BOARD THAT BUILD VALUE FOR ALL
SHAREHOLDERS
Ms. Green is proposing a refreshed board – of qualified, experienced and
respected Nominees – at the Company’s upcoming Annual General Meeting to
be held on June 12, 2018. As part of the refreshed board’s plan, they
will immediately begin a search for a new CEO for Glance.
Shareholders are encouraged to review the proxy materials at
GlanceForward.com and vote the GREEN proxy form or GREEN voting
instruction form FOR Ms. Green’s director nominees.
Don’t wait, voting is fast and easy – please vote well in advance of the
proxy voting deadline of Friday, June 8, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific
Time). If you have questions or need help voting, contact Kingsdale
Advisors at 1-866-581-1513 or at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com.
ADVISORS
Kingsdale Advisors is acting as strategic shareholder and communications
advisor and Koffman Kalef LLP is acting as legal advisor to Ms. Green.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute
"forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable
Canadian securities legislation. The intentions of Penny Green
(“Concerned Shareholder”), the impact of the Concerned Shareholder's
nominees, if elected, on the financial condition, operations, business
and strategies of the Company, future management and other matters
related to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking
information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may
be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Concerned
Shareholder's current views and intentions with respect to future events
and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
Material factors or assumptions that were applied in providing
forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to, the actual
financial health of the Company, the support expressed by shareholders
to the Concerned Shareholder and the current general regulatory
environment and economic conditions. Many factors could cause the actual
results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by
such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein
should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. Should
any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should
assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect,
the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or
events anticipated. Any such forward-looking information is expressly
qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the
Concerned Shareholder does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking
information included in this news release is made as of the date of this
news release and the Concerned Shareholder undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as
required by applicable law.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180522006372/en/
Contacts:
Kingsdale Advisors
Ian Robertson, 416-867-2333
Cell:
647-621-2646
Executive Vice President Communication Strategy
irobertson@kingsdaleadvisors.com
Source: Shareholder of Glance Technologies
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