Magic Leap ends dispute with director

Company had alleged extortion

Magic Leap has “resolved its dispute” with the global security director it had targeted in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 28 in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, asserted that Todd Keil tried to “extort millions of dollars” by threatening to make legal claims against the Plantation-based company.

A statement issued Monday night through a New York public relations firm stated: “Magic Leap and Todd Keil have resolved their dispute. Magic Leap and Mr. Keil each thank the other for working collaboratively to accomplish this resolution and each wishes the other well in all future endeavors.”

Magic Leap spokeswoman Julia Gaynor confirmed the statement but declined to comment further.

Keil, who resides in Texas and no longer works at Magic Leap, said he couldn’t discuss the settlement. “I would love to talk about it, but I signed a nondisclosure agreement,” he said.

The company alleged that Keil had demanded millions from Magic Leap in exchange for not publicly filing “whistleblower claims” that included alleged illegal conduct concerning competitor Microsoft’s HoloLens device, a virtual reality headset that’s already on the market.

The lawsuit said Keil, described as “senior global security director,” was making “false claims” concerning HoloLens developer testing devices being delivered to Magic Leap’s offices. In the lawsuit, Magic Leap said it had “confiscated” the devices and returned them to Microsoft.

Magic Leap, a secretive company founded in 2011 and led by Rony Abovitz, expects to release its first product, a wearable com-