A Dunseith RV manufacturer has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking nearly $2 billion in damages against five current and former North Dakota Department of Commerce officials, alleging a multi-year scheme involving deception, concealment, retaliation, and abuse of state power.
According to Minot Daily News, the 242-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court on Thursday, Aug. 27, by Charles Hoefer and the Hoefer Group, LLC, accuses the officials of depriving him of rights, conspiring to interfere with civil rights, and forced labor.
Hoefer is seeking a jury trial, and the claims are being brought against the individuals in their personal capacities rather than the state itself.
The defendants named in the case are Joshua Teigen, former Commerce commissioner during the Doug Burgum administration; Shayden Akason, head of Investments and Innovation with the North Dakota Development Fund (NDDF); Richard Garman, director of Economic Development and Finance; David Lehman, Advanced Manufacturing Business Development manager; and James Albrecht, NDDF president.
According to the complaint, Hoefer was enticed to purchase the former Benchmark Electronics facility in Dunseith in 2021 to establish domestic RV production using technologies he had developed overseas.
He later discovered what he alleges were concealed aerospace parts fraud and national security violations tied to illicit projects carried out between 2015 and 2022.
The facility, once a 100,000-square-foot electronics plant employing more than 200 workers, closed in 2015 but had produced sensitive components for companies such as Honeywell and Lockheed Martin.
Hoefer claims officials misrepresented the status of the site, which he purchased and invested more than $4 million in revamping, supported by a $2.25 million revolving credit line from the NDDF.
The lawsuit alleges that aerospace and defense work continued at the facility under Chiptronics, despite lacking federal credentials for compliance.
Hoefer states that when he renovated the facility, he discovered abandoned aerospace components including Lockheed Martin rocket system guidance assemblies and Honeywell laser gyroscopes, which he argues constituted evidence of ongoing illicit activities.
He claims the defendants offered him incentives to select the Dunseith facility, concealed the violations, and later retaliated against him after he began remediation with federal authorities.
Hoefer asserts he was threatened by a Department of Homeland Security agent after reporting to the U.S. State Department, which instructed him to preserve evidence.
He also claims he and his family were ostracized in the community and stalked during the process.
The complaint further alleges that state officials misled him about funding, froze his credit line, attempted to have him sign a gag order, and sabotaged investment opportunities that would have supported his RV business.
Hoefer claims these actions left him financially and reputationally damaged, preventing the company from scaling production.
He is seeking $1.89 billion in damages for lost income, equity, financing, industrial development opportunities, reputational harm, and emotional distress.
His attorney, Thomas James Jr., wrote, “The retaliation and oppression and civil rights abuse Mr. Hoefer and his family and his business have been experiencing at the hands of the defendants, continuing to this day, are things no North Dakotan should ever face.”
“My clients are seeking substantial damages for what they’ve experienced, of course. And we understand state legislators have taken a keen interest in the situation as well, giving my clients the hope that their efforts will end the culture of wrongdoing in Commerce and its affiliates and cause reform, so that this sort of abuse never happens again,” Thomas added.
The defendants were contacted for comment, but due to the complexity of the filing and the likelihood that some have not yet been served, responses were not returned.
According to the summons, the defendants have 21 days to file an answer or other motions before the case proceeds to discovery and potentially a jury trial.
This news is significant to the RV industry because it involves a manufacturer’s efforts to expand domestic RV production being hindered by alleged misconduct at the state level, raising questions about transparency, government partnerships, and the broader environment for investment in U.S.-based RV manufacturing.
This lawsuit underscores the complexities domestic RV manufacturers may encounter as they invest in new facilities and attempt to scale production.