EX-CEO gets voting control of firm
Footwear-eschewing Hotchkiss left Capturerx amid turmoil
Christopher Hotchkiss, the brash and barefoot former Capturerx CEO, has obtained voting control of the San Antonio health care technology company more than a year after he resigned as turmoil swirled at the company.
Hotchkiss, 52, who co-founded Capturerx in 2000, assumed voting control of the company after his family transferred voting rights to him Nov. 1, Capturerx said in a brief statement Wednesday.
Dr. Rodney Hamilton, Capturerx’s president, welcomed the news.
Hotchkiss’ “leadership over the years has enabled our company to grow and flourish,” Hamilton said. “Chris and I are aligned, andwe are both optimistic about the future.”
A spokeswoman for the company said Hotchkiss has no title. The most recent corporate filing with the state lists him as a director of NEC Networks LLC, which does business as Capturerx. The spokeswoman, however, said the filing is not accurate.
Hotchkiss, known for eschewing shoes and socks while Capturerx’s CEO, quit the post in summer 2019 amid allegations that he threatened board members and an employee’s family.
Police were called to Capturerx’s downtown headquarters and an armed guard was posted at the entrance.
Hotchkiss denied making any threats, though he acknowledged punching through walls twice and screaming at employees.
In April, Hotchkiss sued the company for breach of contract and defamation. In the complaint, he said he decided to leave because of his growing frustration with certain executives and board members.
Capturerx leveled its ownallegations against Hotchkiss. In a counterclaim, it accused him of defaulting on a nearly $3 million loan. The note’s balance exceeded $1 million, the April 23 court filing said.
The litigation escalated in May when two minority shareholders — Billy Tauzin and Talmage J. Whitehead — intervened in the case on behalf of themselves and the company. The pair, in their own complaint, accused Hotchkiss and his relatives of hatching a “self-serving coup” by stacking the company’s board so they would have the votes to reinstate
Hotchkiss as CEO.
Tauzin and the pair’s Dallas lawyer, Sawnie Mcentire, each declined to comment on Wednesday’s announcement by Capturerx.
In their action, Tauzin and Whitehead alleged the Hotchkiss family was “attempting to change the composition of the board, so Chris Hotchkiss can control a puppet board, in order to dismiss the counterclaim against him, forgive his substantial debt to the company, and ratify a new employment agreement, which, upon information and belief, provides grossly excessive compensation and benefits,” Tauzin and Whitehead alleged.
The two minority shareholders obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent Hotchkiss’ return as CEO and the appointment of any new managers.
In June, the parties reached a “stand-still agreement” under which Hotchkiss couldn’t be appointed an officer or manager, San Antonio attorney David “Clay” Snell said. He represents Lyle Hotchkiss, Chris’ father, who has been a Capturerx shareholder.
The agreement did not affect the family’s right to transfer interests in the holding company that owns a majority of Capturerx, Snell added.
Nothing in Hotchkiss’ lawsuit against Capturerx has occurred since August.
340B program
Capturerx acts an an administrator for hospitals, clinics and health centers participating in the 340B program, a government initiative requiring pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs at a discount to health care providers caring for underserved populations.
Capturerx works with hundreds of hospitals and clinics, and has thousands of pharmacies in its network. But the company has
lost customers to Walgreens and CVS, court records indicate.
Hotchkiss has taken credit for spearheading Capturerx’s expansion to more than 180 employees and annual revenue topping $45 million. (He put the figures at more than 100 employees and more than $18 million in annual revenue in a court document in another case.)
Three Capturerx employees, who requested anonymity because they feared for their safety, told the San Antonio ExpressNews last year that Hotchkiss threatened members of the company’s board and the family of a Capturerx employee before stepping down as CEO.
Hotchkiss said he had been told he’s intimidating and has a booming voice, but he called the allegations against him “exaggerations.”
Nevertheless, a company spokeswoman said at the time of Hotchkiss’ departure that “Capturerx has taken steps to provide additional measures of safety to all family members, employees and board members.”
Hotchkiss sued the company, alleging it “maliciously slandered” him by “orally publishing false statements.” The complaint doesn’t specifically outline what defamatory statements the company allegedly made.
Other litigation
Hotchkiss also has a pending lawsuit against Jose Padilla, named as coCEO to succeed Hotchkiss last year. Filed in October of last year, the suit alleges Padilla “falsely and maliciously accused Hotchkiss of threatening physical harm to Padilla’s family.”
In his answer to the lawsuit this month, Padilla said he often witnessed
Hotchkiss’ “mental illness, violence and general mean-spirited behavior.”
After he resigned, Hotchkiss phoned shareholder Whitehead and “apparently told (him) that he was in (Capturerx’s) building, looking for the board (of directors) on the 3rd floor, that he was angry that they’d actually accepted his resignation, indicated that he had a gun, and that he wanted to harm the board and his family,” Padilla said in a court filing earlier this month.
In another alleged incident, a Hotchkiss niece told him that Padilla was threatening to fire Hotchkiss family members from the company, the court filing added. Hotchkiss “became irate, and stated that
if Padilla wanted to attack the Hotchkiss family, then he would harm and/or kill Padilla’s wife and three children.”
Fearing his family was in danger, Padilla called police Aug. 14, 2019. It marked the second time in two days that police had been called to Capturerx’s offices over alleged threats by Hotchkiss.
Hotchkiss now is attempting to get back on the Capturerx’s board and remains involved in its dayto-day activities — despite the pending lawsuit Hotchkiss has against the company, Padilla’s court filing stated.
Padilla resigned from Capturerx on Sept. 13, 2019, “as he could no longer work under the threats to him and his family’s safety,” according to his court filing
Padilla has denied “maliciously slandering” Hotchkiss.
A lawyer for Padilla declined to comment. Hotchkiss’ lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Three Capturerx employees told the San Antonio Express-news last year that Hotchkiss threatened members of the company’s board and the family of a Capturerx employee before stepping down as CEO. Hotchkiss called the allegations against him “exaggerations.”