Kyle Peters, the son-in-law of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has reportedly been sued by his former employer.
Peters, who is married to Noem’s daughter, Kassidy Noem Peters, was sued last month by the South Dakota company A1 Development, according to local outlet KELOLAND News. The complaint was filed Feb. 19 in Codington County.
The lawsuit claims Peters had been “wrongfully competing and diverting business from A1 Development for years,” the outlet reports. Peters used to work at the firm and later transitioned to an independent contractor, according to the complaint.
The company reportedly alleged that Peters “used his position to wrongfully divert business from A1 Development to his own personal benefit for at least 11 separate clients.”
A1 Development is a company that helps clients in South Dakota with development, construction, permitting and government relations, according to the court papers.
The company has claimed his actions were “fraudulent and intentional,” Dakota News Now reports. Now, A1 Development is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and has requested a jury trial, according to the outlet.
Peters and his LLC, Bad River Development, “deny the claims alleged by A1 Development,” according to his attorney, Stephen Landon.
“We are working on Kyle and Bad River’s Answer to the Complaint as well as their counterclaim against A1 for the commissions it is unlawfully withholding,” Landon wrote in an email to The Independent.
“We believe the facts will show that Kyle did not divert any business from A1 Development, that he in fact brought substantial business to A1, and that he continued to attempt to refer business to A1 even after his departure,” he added.
When reached for comment, Paul Kostboth, a founding partner at A1 Development, described the situation as “unfortunate.”
“We wish we were not involved in this unfortunate situation but believe the complaint speaks for itself,” he wrote in an email to The Independent.
Peters serves as a city council member in Watertown, a small town about 100 miles north of Sioux Falls. He was also elected as Watertown’s deputy mayor last year, KXLG reports.
Peters married Noem’s daughter in 2019, according to a social media post she shared at the time.
“Kassidy and Kyle were married this weekend in the Black Hills! Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us. God is good,” Noem wrote on Facebook.
