N O. 25 – 3369 – C480
TO: MELISSA L. LACY
425 1ST AVENUE SW
HARMONY, MN 55939
SUCH OTHER PLACE AS DEFENDANT MAY BE FOUND
DEFENDANT, GREETING:
YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to appear before the Terence Davis, of the 480th Judicial District Court of Williamson County, Texas, at the Williamson County Justice Center located at 405 Martin Luther King, in the City of Georgetown, Texas, by filing a written answer, at or before 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next following the expiration of twenty days after the date of service of this citation and PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL PETITION filed in said court on the 20th day of November, 2025 , numbered 25-3369-C480 on the docket of said court and styled:
ONE SOURCE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C. VS. MELISSA L. LACY
PLAINTIFF is represented by attorney Katherine J. Walters, whose address is: 1111 West 6th St., Bldg. A, Suite 330 Austin, Texas 78703.
The nature of demand is as follows, to wit:
THAT THE COURT GRANT RELIEF REQUESTED IN PETITION.
as is more fully shown by a true and correct copy of the PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL PETITION accompanying this citation, and made a part hereof.
ISSUED AND GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND SEAL of said Court, on this the 24th day of November, 2025.
ADDRESS OF LEAD ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER: Katherine J. Walters
1111 West 6th St., Bldg. A, Suite 330
Austin, Texas 78703
Lisa David, District Clerk
PO Box 24, Georgetown, TX 78627
Williamson County, Texas
(512) 943-1212
BY: Heather Frazier
Heather Frazier, Deputy
YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. YOU MAY EMPLOY AN ATTORNEY. IF YOU OR YOUR ATTORNEY DO NOT FILE A WRITTEN ANSWER WITH THE CLERK WHO ISSUED THIS CITATION BY 10:00 A.M. ON THE MONDAY NEXT FOLLOWING THE EXPIRATION OF TWENTY DAYS AFTER YOU WERE SERVED THIS CITATION AND PETITION, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT FOR THE RELIEF DEMANDED IN THE PETITION MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU. IN ADDITION TO FILING A WRITTEN ANSWER WITH THE CLERK, YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO MAKE INITIAL DISCLOSURES TO THE OTHER PARTIES OF THIS SUIT. THESE DISCLOSURES GENERALLY MUST BE MADE NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS AFTER YOU FILE YOUR ANSWER WITH THE CLERK. FIND OUT MORE AT TEXASLAWHELP.ORG.
CAUSE NO.
ONE SOURCE MANUFACTURING § IN THE DISTRICT COURT
TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C., §
Plaintiff §
- § _____ JUDICIAL DISTRICT
MELISSA L. LACY, §
Defendant. § WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS
PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL PETITION
COMES NOW, One Source Manufacturing Technology, L.L.C. (“One Source”) and files
this its Original Petition complaining of Melissa L. Lacy and, in support thereof, would show the
Court as follows:
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN
- Plaintiff intents to conduct discovery under Level 1 of Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 190.2 and affirmatively pleads that this suit is governed by the expedited-actions
process in Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 169 because Plaintiff only seeks monetary relief
aggregating $250,00000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs.
CLAIM FOR RELIEF
- Plaintiff seeks only monetary relief of $250,000.00 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
PARTIES
- Plaintiff, One Source is a Texas limited liability company with its primary office at 1106 Leander Drive, Leander, Texas 78641.
- Defendant, Melissa L. Lacy (“Lacy”) is an individual who may be served at 425 1st
Avenue SW, Harmony, MN 55939 or at 1348 Francesca Drive, Little Elm, Texas 75068 or at such other place as Defendant may be found.
VENUE
- Venue is proper in Williamson County, Texas, pursuant to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 134.004 because this is a suit brought under the Texas Theft Liability Act and this is the county in which the theft occurred. Venue is further proper in Williamson County, Texas, pursuant to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 15.002(a)(1) because all or a substantial part of the acts and omissions giving rise to the claim occurred in Williamson County, Texas.
FACTS
- At the time Lacy was hired as the Director of Finance, she signed an Alternative
Dispute Resolution agreement that governs this matter. After the lawsuit is filed, the parties are to select a Decision Maker with the qualifications set forth in section 151.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and this matter is abated pending resolution of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Process. A true and correct copy of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Process is appended hereto as Exhibit 1.
- Lacy was hired on or about January 21, 2025, by One Source as its Director of Finance and was later promoted to Vice President of Business Operations. Among her duties was as the caretaker of the petty cash box for which she had the only key and to review the charges made to One Source’s credit card by the employees entrusted with the cards. It was always clear to Lacy and the other One Source employees that these company credit cards were to be used only for legitimate One Source expenses. One of Lacy’s responsibilities was to ensure that only One Source related charges were charged to One Source’s credit card.
- Unbeknownst to the President of One Source, Mr. Kevin Shipley (“Shipley”), Lacy
was using One Source’s credit card to make thousands of dollars of personal charges without authorization, and was not repaying those charges. Her actions constitute misappropriation of goods belonging to One Source. TEX. PENAL CODE 31.01(2); (4); (5); 31.03. She did not have the consent of One Source to purchase goods and services for her own use with One Source’s credit card. It was not until Shipley reviewed a recent credit card bill that the theft came to light. Below is a synopsis of the unauthorized charges, including the Petty Cash theft Shipley found:
Petty Cash Shortfall $3,590.85
Spas $2,253.78
Merchandise/Target/Amazon/Best Buy $30,360.85
Robbins Research $2,577.00
Ultimate Mastery $5,250.00
SP Rho Nutrition Supplements $312.52
Top Barrel Liquor $55.19
SP Dose Daily Wellness Shots $392.00
HEB Car Wash $53.96
Sabinos Pizza $62.91
Door Dash Pass $96.00
Summer Moon Coffee $21.45
Bella Sera Italian Restaurant $40.00
Cava Mediterranean Restaurant $71.44
Blue Corn Harvest Restaurant $104.38
Canal Street Café $31.34
Luigi’s Italian Restaurant $76.80
MAD Green’s $37.16
Burger King $13.20
Panda Express $42.38
Dairy Queen $46.18
Five Four Restaurant and Drafthouse $280.12
Breakers $50.99
Taco Bell Restaurant $163.15
McDonald’s Restaurant $85.11
Chick-Fil-A Restaurant $75.91
Starbuck’s $266.33
HEB Groceries $926.92
Scooter’s Coffee $188.00
Chipotle Restaurant $69.56
Panera $134.57
Wendy’s $30.77
Utilities $354.70
Gas $248.71
Office and Shipping $3,461.37
Spilman, Thomas & Battle law firm $435.00
The Original Mattress Repair $180.46
Miscellaneous Professional Services $75.00
Sub-total $52,516.06
Payment ($3,967.55)
Total Due $48,548.51
- Lacy’s actions constitute theft as defined by the Texas Penal Code. Demand has been made for repayment, but Lacy has ignored the demands and has made no attempt to repay the outstanding $48,548.51 due and owing to One Source.
COUNT ONE – THEFT LIABILITY ACT
- One Source incorporates herein paragraphs 6-9 to the extent necessary to support this cause of action.
- One Source owned the funds stolen by Lacy. She unlawfully appropriated the items she purchased with One Source’s credit card for her own benefit, thereby depriving One Source of the funds and the products and/or services purchased with the funds. All of the Amazon charges were on Lacy’s personal account and not on One Source’s Amazon business account.
- Lacy voluntarily engaged in this unlawful conduct. She was the only person with access to her One Source credit card and the only person with access to the petty cash box. It was no accident that she bought thousands of dollars of meals, coffees and groceries for her personal use without authorization and with no benefit to One Source. It was no accident that she purchased spa services, nutritional supplements, life coaching and dog urination pads (at $55.00 per week) for her personal use without authorization and with no benefit to One Source. It was no accident that she purchased items on her personal Amazon account with One Source’s credit card. In fact, although demand was made for the return of the property or funds charged to the credit card, Lacy ignored it.
- As a result of Lacy’s actions, One Source has sustained damages in excess of $48,000.00 for which it seeks recovery. In addition, One Source seeks recovery of the $1,000.00 statutory damages, exemplary damages of at least $48,000.00, attorneys’ fees, court costs and interest.
COUNT TWO – BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
- One Source incorporates herein paragraphs 6-13 to the extent necessary to support this cause of action.
- Lacy was the Vice President of Business Development at One Source. Therefore, she held a position of trust and confidence and was entrusted with sensitive company financial information and responsible for accounting for the purchases and sales made by One Source. She was the only person in charge of the petty cash, which was about $5,000.00. She was the only person responsible for reviewing the credit card statements to be sure that all charges were legitimate company charges and to protect the interests of One Source. She is a certified public accountant and, therefore, has knowledge superior to that of an ordinary person when it comes to authorized and unauthorized company purchases. Her actions caused One Source to have to perform significant accounting adjustments in order to not misrepresent to the IRS that certain charges were legitimate business charges of One Source. One Source will have to engage its CPA to review the past year’s worth of charges to be sure that they are properly categorized.
- One Source seeks all actual, incidental, and consequential damages, including but
not limited to the cost for the CPA’s additional work, resulting from Lacy’s breach of fiduciary duty. In addition, One Source seeks exemplary damages in an amount not less than two times the amount stolen by Lacy.
COUNT THREE – CONVERSION
- One Source incorporates herein paragraphs 6-16 to the extent necessary to support this cause of action.
- At all times, One Source owned and had the right to immediate possession of its petty cash and the credit card misused by Lacy. The conversion by Lacy of One Source’s personal property caused it actual damages as set forth herein. One Source seeks all actual, incidental, and consequential damages resulting from Lacy’s conversion. In addition, One Source seeks exemplary damages in an amount not less than two times the amount stolen by Lacy.
CONDITIONS PRECEDENT
- All conditions precedent to One Source’s claim for relief have been performed,
have occurred, or have been waived.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED One Source Manufacturing Technology, L.L.C. prays that Melissa L. Lacy be cited to appear and that, upon the trial on the merits, One Source have judgment against Lacy for all actual, incidental and consequential damages, punitive damages, interest and attorneys’ fees. In addition, One Source prays for all other relief, whether at law or in equity, to which the Court and the Special Judge deem it is justly entitled.
Dated: November 20, 2025.
Respectfully submitted,
RICHIE & GUERINGER, P.C.
BY: /s/ Katherine J. Walters
Katherine J. Walters
State Bar No. 00785174
Ryan W. Wood
State Bar No. 24097213
1111 West 6th St., Bldg. A, Suite 330
Austin, Texas 78703
512-236-9220 telephone
512-236-9230 facsimile
kwalters@rg-austin.com
rwood@rg-austin.com
ATTORNEYS FOR ONE SOURCE
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.
Publish
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