Jeff Horst (left) and Josh McLaurin of Krevolin & Horst, Atlanta. (Courtesy photos)

The former CEO of a Georgia auto battery manufacturing company has asked a Fulton County judge to enforce an arbitration award of more than $4 million in severance pay, interest and fees as well as shares of company stock, after he was ousted in 2018.

The arbitration award said Victor Koelsch's termination from Exide Technologies was a pretext contrived by a company facing a "liquidity crisis" and looking to save millions by falsely claiming he was fired for cause. 

According to the award and petition for enforcement, in 2015 Milton-based Exide Technologies was emerging from bankruptcy and hired Koelsch—a former executive with Michelin Tires—to run the company.  

In April 2018 Koelsch and two other Exide employees attending a conference were asked to meet with representatives of a Chinese battery company, Camel, that was looking to expand its operations into the United States. 

There was a discussion about Camel acquiring an idle Exide plant in Tennessee, but negotiations never went very far, with the Chinese company failing to provide all the information Exide requested or to respond to a voicemail message from Koelsch. 

Koelsch never raised the matter with Exide's directors, whose chairman had instructed him not to "wait until transactions were beyond exploratory conversations" before bringing them before the board. 

In November 2018 Koelsch was told he was being terminated, "obviously without cause," and that the terms of his separation agreement would be honored. 

But Exide's board of directors changed their tune in early 2019 , saying Koelsch's termination was being reclassified as "for cause" because he had "dropped the ball" on the potential Camel deal and that Exide would not honor the agreement.

Koelsch's contract included an arbitration clause, and the matter came before  JAMS arbitrator F. Carlton King Jr.  late last year.

In his Jan. 7 award, King wrote that, although Exide claimed its motives in reclassifying Koelsch's termination had nothing to do with its financial condition, it was "undisputed that in early 2019, Exide was in a liquidity crisis, had been refused additional money by its creditors owners, and was looking to raise capital or find bridge funding.

"It is of note that there were owner/creditors in attendance at the Board meeting when the 'reclassification' decision was made," wrote King. "It is difficult not to conclude that avoiding having to fund a severance package estimated by Exide's lawyers to be worth almost $6 million was the motive for the 'reclassification.'"

Koelsch's petition for confirmation, filed Feb. 22 in Fulton County Superior Court, seeks $3,692,135 in unpaid salary and benefits, $244,215 in prejudgment interest, $23,091 in arbitration fees and the "transfer of certain equity shares" as detailed in his separation agreement. 

The petition said that at the conclusion of the arbitration hearing, Exide's current CEO "promised Koelsch that Exide would honor the arbitrator's ruling and pay Koelsch's severance package if Exide lost."

"Exide has not paid Koelsch the sums due under the Final Award," it said.

Koelsch is represented by Jeff Horst and Josh McLaurin of Krevolin & Horst.

Exide is represented by Ichter Davis partner Cary Ichter, who said he did not have permission to discuss the case. 

In an interview, Horst said he did not know whether Exide's failure to pay the award was an indication that it planned to challenge it.

"I don't have a good answer for that," said Horst. "I followed up with Cary afterward, and I didn't get any kind of assurances that it would be paid."

Asked whether Exide was able to fund the award, Horst again said he did not know.

"I don't know what their financial condition is," he said. "They're not a publicly traded company."

In the meantime, Koelsch has moved to Minnesota where in January he was named chief digital officer for Polaris, which manufactures off-road recreational vehicles and ATVs.