Former manufacturing firm CFO’s case against CBIZ moves closer to trial: Trial Balance

The Trial Balance is CFO.com’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events to help you prepare.

Part 1 — The former finance chief of a Texas concrete pipe manufacturer is accusing CBIZ of breaching fiduciary duty.

A CFO’s lawsuit alleging breach of fiduciary duty at a middle market accounting firm is inching closer to trial, lawyers for the plaintiff announced last week.

In a suit filed in federal court in June 2025, Christopher Podlasek, previously the finance chief of concrete pipe supplier AmeriTex Holdings, alleged that accounting firm Marcum produced a “low-ball valuation” of his former employer. The move, Podlasek alleges, deprived him of “more than $25 million owed for his 1.5% equity stake.” Podlasek joined AmeriTex as CFO in 2018 and resigned but kept his equity in January 2023. He then “formally withdrew” from the company in October of 2023.

The latest turn in the case came on March 24, when U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett of the Southern District of Texas ruled against the defendant’s motion to abate the case, which was filed in the Houston division. The motion was brought by accounting firm CBIZ, which completed its acquisition of Marcum in November 2024.

In a March 25 news release, William Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for Podlasek, said that the judge’s ruling “clears the path to trial.”

“Mr. Podlasek will move immediately into discovery and a full debate regarding Defendant’s conduct,” Brewer said.

Podlasek’s June complaint alleged that “at least one practicing group within Marcum was willing to betray the standards of its profession and knowingly aid a deception by its client.” The complaint goes on to allege that AmeriTex CEO Kevin Thompson had “devised a scheme to artificially depress (Podlasek’s) payout,” and that Thompson had enlisted Marcum to “pretend it performed an independent valuation.”

Podlasek’s complaint said that after he withdrew as a member of AmeriTex Holdings LLC in October, he was “entitled to receive the ‘fair value’ of his 1.5% ownership stake” within 30 days. The complaint said that Thompson did not “honor this obligation.”

The complaint accused CBIZ of one count of knowing participation in a breach of fiduciary duty and another count of civil conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty.

When reached for comment on Friday, a spokeswoman for CBIZ said that the firm does not comment on pending litigation.

In its motion to dismiss, CBIZ said that it “had no knowledge” of Thomspon’s alleged plan and that Podlasek had not shown “facts that would demonstrate CBIZ’s actual knowledge or intent to engage in Mr. Thompson’s purported plan to breach a fiduciary duty.”

CBIZ described Podlasek’s case as a “shameless attempt to take a second bite at the proverbial apple all while grasping at straws in the process.”

The motion noted that, after a valuation by CBIZ, AmeriTex “tendered a check for approximately $2.1 million” to Podlasek. That was the equivalent of “equity interest less the remaining promissory note balance,” according to the filing. Podlask “rejected Ameritex’s payment believing his equity interest should be valued at $30 million,” the document stated.

CBIZ first announced plans to acquire Marcum in a $2.3 billion deal in July 2024. At the time, CBIZ President and CEO Jerry Grisko hailed the move as the “most significant transaction in CBIZ’s history.”

The CBIZ case is happening alongside a separate case Podlasek filed against AmeriTex Holdings in a Texas state court in October 2024. In the latter case, Podlasek accused AmeriTex of concocting “a set of false financial projections (that wildly diverged from the projections AmeriTex recently used in the ordinary course of its business) to avoid paying Podlasek for his 1.5% equity interest,” according to a news release issued by Brewer at the time.

The complaint against AmeriTex, CEO Thompson and director Thomas Murphy is set to go to trial Sept. 19. In an email to CFO.com, Brewer said that Podlasek is “eager to get to trial and shine a light on the scheme alleged in the complaint.”

“As a career CFO, our client understands the damage that can be accomplished by valuation firms willing to tailor their work to the desires of the one paying them in disregard of the standards of their profession,” Brewer said of Podlasek.

Podlasek is seeking $30 million each from AmeriTex and CBIZ, according to his attorneys.

Part 2 — This week

Here’s a list of important market events slated for the week ahead.

Monday, March 30 — None scheduled.

Tuesday, March 31

Wednesday, April 1

U.S. retail sales, delayed Feb. report
Business inventories, delayed Jan. report
S&P final U.S. manufacturing PMI, March
ISM manufacturing, March

Thursday, April 2

Initial jobless claims
U.S. trade deficit, Feb.

Friday, April 3

Part 3 — Quote of the week

“To be clear, not every company can be saved. Even the best CFO cannot turn a poor business model into a success story, but understanding whether your company is an uncut diamond or a painted rock will indicate if it is worth your turning around or turning away.”

Diya Sagar

CFO, AWA Studios

In a recent column for CFO.com, Sagar shares the lessons she learned firsthand on turning around a loss-making business and offers ways to identify and address the root causes of financial struggles. Beyond cost-cutting, CFOs must also know when to invest in growth opportunities that are essential for guiding businesses from losses to sustainable success.