Southern Company this week withdrew its lawsuit against a Homewood man who has been a high-level manager on a project to build a $6.2 billion power plant in Mississippi.
Southern Co. on Feb. 19 had filed a lawsuit against Brett J. Wingo, alleging that the Homewood man had backed out of an employment termination agreement.
The company got Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Elisabeth French to issue a temporary gag order against Wingo after arguing it would suffer irreparable harm if Wingo discussed "allegations, trade secrets, and proprietary or otherwise competitive business information."
The temporary order was to last at least until a hearing scheduled for Thursday. Wingo had agreed to remain tight-lipped about the project until that date.
But on Wednesday attorneys for Southern Co. filed a motion asking the lawsuit be dismissed. Judge French, at Southern Co.'s request, dismissed the case later that day without prejudice, leaving open the possibility the company could pursue a case against Wingo at a later time.
The motion did not state why Southern Co. wanted the case dismissed against Wingo and efforts to reach an attorney and Wingo for comment were unsuccessful.
Wingo had been the project manager for a part of the plant that's supposed to extract carbon dioxide from the power plant's exhaust, the Associated Press reported. That's the most innovative part of Kemper, which is supposed to emit less carbon dioxide than a typical coal-fueled power plant, possibly paving the way for continued use of coal even in a world where the government limits carbon dioxide emissions to curb global warming, AP reported.
The dispute between Southern Company and Wingo was first reported by Eddie Curran of Mobile, Alabama, who operates the mrdunngoestomontgomery.com blog.