An Aumsville construction company has appealed a $12.8 million judgment owed to its former CEO and has asked the court to delay enforcement of payments.
On Jan. 23, HP Civil Inc. filed with the Oregon Court of Appeals in a wrongful termination lawsuit by former CEO Roger Silbernagel. The matter has been assigned to the Settlement Conference Program to seek a resolution without further judicial intervention. Parties have until June 9 to reach a settlement or the case will proceed before the appeals court.
Defendants filed a related motion with the lower court Feb. 18 to stay enforcement of the judgment while the appeal is pending. As of press time no hearing on the motion was scheduled.
In April of 2025, a Marion County jury found company owners Larry Gesher and Josh Smith breached their fiduciary duty to fellow owner Silbernagel by forcing him out in 2022. Silbernagel also claimed Gesher and Smith fired him as retaliation for investigating racial discrimination within the company.The jury did not find grounds for this claim.
Jurors awarded Silbernagel $200,000, while Judge Lindsay Partridge ordered defendants to pay $8.53 million for Silbernagel’s stake in the company, $678,730 in lost profit sharing and $3.4 million in interest. Silbernagel has also requested $707,968 in attorneys fees. Defendants were ordered to pay Silbernagel in five yearly installments but missed the first payment of $4.4 million on Dec. 5, 2025. They told the court they planned to appeal and, if the judgment is overturned, paying Silbernagel now could cause irreparable harm. That argument was rejected, and on Jan. 29 HP Civil was ordered to give Silbernagel shares in the company as collateral for missed payments.
A Feb. 3 motion asks to overturn the order on the grounds the judge failed to follow court procedure. A hearing is set for March 23 to consider this request, Silbernagel’s request for attorneys fees, and whether or not defendants should pay interest on the missed $4.4 million payment.
