CHICKASHA – What began as a relatively straightforward lawsuit in Grady County has evolved into a convoluted case of counterclaims of it-said, he-said, they-said.
Blessed Chickasha Collective sued Chickasha businessman Brannan Bordwine and Latitude Liquids almost two years ago, alleging breach of contract and negligence for “improper storage, transporting or handling” of hand sanitizer “which caused a fire and contamination” of property leased by the plaintiff.
Bordwine was sued individually, along with his Bordwine Urban and Rural Development LLC, Bordwine 963PPRD LLC, and Bordwine Development Inc. Latitude Liquids was also sued under its alternate name, Liquid Latitude LLC.
Blessed Chickasha Collective sued for negligence and breach of contract because of a fire that consumed a large volume of flammable hand sanitizer “improperly stored” at the former Chickasha Manufacturing site, 5501 S. Fourth Street (U.S. Highway 81 and state Highway 19).
The fire broke out on Aug. 7, 2022, and burned for several days. Methanol-laced hand sanitizer at the site was so volatile that when the fire erupted, cast-iron lids on two manholes were blown off and the municipal sanitary sewer briefly caught fire from sanitizer that flowed into the line, state and local fire officials reported.
During the fire, a warehouse at the site and its contents were “a total loss” and flames consumed all hand sanitizer stored at the site, the State Fire Marshal’s office confirmed. The building reportedly encompassed approximately 100,000 square feet of space.
Additionally, the state Department of Environmental Quality “determined that … waterways and soil on the property” were contaminated by the methanol- tainted hand sanitizer.
Brannan Bordwine “entered into an oral lease” of that property from Blessed Chickasha Collective in June 2022, the plaintiff alleges. A condition of the lease was that Bordwine’s operations were to be conducted “in a safe manner which would protect [the] property from damage,” the plaintiff claims.
Oklahoma City attorney R. Lyle Clemens filed the lawsuit in Grady County District Court on behalf of Blessed Chickasha Collective on Feb. 9, 2023.
A year later Richard G. Fraser filed a motion to intervene in the case because Blessed Chickasha Collective signed a promissory note to buy the property from Fraser. He maintained that he has “a direct, substantially and legally protectable interest … that could be impaired or impeded” if the lawsuit were to proceed absent his “participation in the proceedings.” District Judge Kory Kirkland subsequently authorized Fraser to intervene in the case.
Bordwine’s attorneys, Peter Scimeca, Brian R. Matula, and J. Mark McAlester, all of Oklahoma City, denied he improperly stored, transported and/or handled “large amounts of hand sanitizer” that caused the Aug. 7 fire and contaminated the soil and water on the property.
In his April 12, 2023, response, Bordwine denied that he and Blessed Chickasha Collective “entered into an oral lease contract” on the property.
The plaintiff claims that Latitude Liquids was in league with Bordwine and his companies as “a joint venturer.” In his response Brannan Bordwine acknowledged that his Bordwine Development Inc. “entered into a joint venture with Latitude Liquids” in 2022 that involved “ultimately, the recycling of hand sanitizer.”
Bordwine asserted that Blessed Chickasha Collective’s claims are “barred or reduced” by “the doctrine of assumption of the risk,” “the doctrine of unavoidable accident,” have no “legitimate basis in law or fact,” were “the result of a supervening cause,” were “due to an act of God,” and perhaps were caused by “the intentional or criminal act of a third party.”
Bordwine’s crossclaim versus Latitude Liquids In June 2024 Bordwine filed a crossclaim against Michael McGovern and Mike Ruffing, founders and co-owners of Latitude Liquids, accusing them of breach of joint venture, breach of contract, indebtedness, negligence, and fraud.
Latitude “transported truckloads of thousands of pallets of hand sanitizer to facilities used by Bordwine Development Inc. … to store, depackage and otherwise handle” hand sanitizer, Bordwine wrote.
Latitude Liquids “had knowledge that they were not supposed to transport any of the potentially methanol- contaminated hand sanitizer” from 4e Brands Northamerica to Bordwine’s facilities in Oklahoma “in violation of federal and state law.” McGovern and Ruffing “were aware that potentially methanol-contaminated hand sanitizer required legally compliant tip-to-tail storage, transportation, and recycling or disposal,” Bordwine contended.
Bordwine relates that he billed Latitude Liquids $744,273 for his storage of tainted hand sanitizer that Latitude Liquids transported to his locations in Grady County. In addition, Bordwine Development Inc. “provided labor, per diem, fuel, and housing to Latitude Liquids from Sept. 14, 2022, through Dec. 9, 2022, and submitted an invoice for $75,000 for those services.
Bordwine claims Latitude still owes his company $630,104. In addition to that debt, Bordwine Development Inc. “suffered other damages as a result of Latitude Liquids’ breach of the joint venture agreement, including its share of revenue from reclamation” of hand sanitizer.
In response, Ruffing’s and Mc-Govern’s attorney, Micah J. Petersen of the McAfee & Taft law firm in Oklahoma City, argued that Bordwine “alleges no facts to suggest” that they acted “on their own and not as representatives of Latitude.” Petersen cited the state’s “corporate shield doctrine, which provides that owners of a company are not liable for the obligations of the company.”
On Nov. 26 Judge Kirkland scheduled a hearing for Jan. 23 on McGovern’s and Ruffing’s motion to dismiss Bordwine’s counterclaim. Blessed Chickasha’s details are scant Details about Blessed Chickasha Collective are scant, although records of the Oklahoma Secretary of State show it is a domestic limited liability company incorporated in December 2020 and its registered agent is Kevin Paul Pham, 48.
Southwest Ledger previously called the offices of attorney Clemens and agent Pham and left messages, asking whether they have any knowledge of what Blessed Chickasha Collective does and who its principals are. Neither man returned the Ledger’s phone calls.
The Ledger submitted an inquiry to the Secretary of State, requesting additional information about Blessed Chickasha Collective, but had not received a response by press time.
As for Pham, he has been convicted of 21 felony crimes in Oklahoma dating back to 1997, when he pleaded guilty in Oklahoma County to second-degree burglary. In 2002 he was charged with operating a motor vehicle “chop shop” in Oklahoma County and subsequently was convicted.
In 2006 Pham pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary, 10 counts of concealing stolen property, and operation of a vehicle “chop shop.”
And in December 2023 the 20th Multicounty Grand Jury indicted Pham on 13 felony charges: conspiracy against the state or one of its subdivisions, six counts of filing a false or forged instrument, aggravated manufacturing of marijuana, trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction, conducting financial transactions involving proceeds of unlawful acts, and engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses.
Those charges were filed in Kingfisher County, and Pham’s next court appearance in district court there is scheduled for Jan. 8.