National company wanted local protester fired

A rebranding announcement by NAI Mobile’s Allan Cameron and a lawsuit filed by the commercial real estate company against its former parent company appears to be fallout from a local agent’s peaceful protest outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

While the breach of contract lawsuit, filed by attorneys representing the local company, does not mention specifics of why NAI Global severed its relationship with the local group, a source familiar with the situation who spoke on background, verified it had to do with Broker/Agent Pete Riehm’s presence with a local group outside the U.S. Capitol January 6.
Riehm, who also hosts a local radio show and writes newspaper columns, accompanied a group of mostly senior citizens to protest that day, but has said neither he nor anyone else in his group entered the Capitol or participated in any violent acts.

A friend of Riehm, who spoke on background, confirmed he was on a bus and doing local press at the time rioters began breaching the Capitol Building on Jan. 6.

According to the source, a link to video of Riehm’s interview with WPMI-TV that day was sent by someone who “took umbrage” to his comments to the owners of NAI Global, and they demanded he be fired from the company. When Cameron and the company’s management refused to do so, their website and emails were immediately shut down.

NAI Global is owned by C-III Capital Partners. It’s website says it is “a controlled affiliate of Island Capital Group, LLC., a leading international merchant bank.” Island Capital’s CEO is Andrew L. Farkas.

Despite making the announcement about an “exciting new brand update,” which included a spate of new email addresses for agents at the company, those involved were unwilling to officially speak about what brought about those changes. In response to an email asking about the rebranding, Cameron wrote he and others “are not at a point where we want to comment.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mobile, is vague about the reason, only specifying that New America Network, Inc. prematurely ended the local group’s “NAI Global Member Agreement” on Jan. 15.

Court records indicate the two entities entered into the agreement on Nov. 21. 2017. Attorneys for NAI Mobile wrote that the company has “complied at all times “with its obligations under the agreement.”

In the lawsuit, attorneys for NAI Mobile claim the local commercial real estate firm was forced to spend money it shouldn’t have needed to after the parent company took away its website. The wrongful termination of the agreement will lead what was known as NAI Mobile to spend more than $100,000. The company is asking for damages of $75,000, according to the lawsuit.

While the lawsuit was filed by attorneys with Burr Forman, Lagniappe has learned that the case has been transferred over to Steve Martino at Taylor Martio. Martino has not returned a call seeking comment on the lawsuit.

A retired Navy Commander, Reihm was honored in October as the area’s Veteran of the year.

Lagniappe Co-publisher Rob Holbert contributed to this report.