Cody Fortier Lawsuit: $50M Counterclaim and Equipment Dispute

The Cody Fortier lawsuit is a pair of competing civil claims in Louisiana state court between Fortier, the founder and former CEO of Lafayette drainage contractor Rigid Constructors, and the company itself. Fortier sued in September 2024 to collect roughly $9 million he says he is owed under his 2024 exit deal. Rigid Constructors answered with allegations that Fortier mismanaged and misappropriated more than $50 million during his time running the company.¹

Who the Parties Are

Fortier founded Rigid Constructors, a heavy civil and drainage construction firm based in Lafayette Parish. In April 2022, he sold a 50% membership interest in the company to Settoon Acquisition, LLC, an entity ultimately owned by marine transportation executive Russ Settoon. The deal ran through several Fortier-related entities, including his holding company CF, LLC, and was paired with a contribution agreement transferring construction equipment from CF, LLC to Rigid for continued operations.²³

The partnership soured. In October 2023, Rigid hired outside consultants to investigate Fortier’s management. The company says that investigation confirmed concerns about self-dealing, financial statement misrepresentation, embezzlement, mismanagement, and fiduciary duty violations. On December 11, 2023, the board replaced him with interim CEO Steven Means.²⁴

In April 2024, Fortier sold his remaining ownership interest to Rigid for $3 million and resigned as manager. On the same track, he signed a separate bill of sale for construction equipment valued at approximately $6 million. Both transactions are now at the center of the litigation.¹

What Fortier Is Suing For

In September 2024, Fortier and CF, LLC filed suit against Rigid Constructors and its equipment subsidiary, Rigid Equipment LLC, in the 27th Judicial District Court in St. Landry Parish. The petition alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment. Fortier says the company failed to pay him the $3 million for his ownership interest and roughly $6 million owed under the equipment bill of sale. He also says Rigid failed to remove him as a personal guarantor on company debt, which his exit agreement required.¹

On September 9, 2024, Judge Laura Garcille granted an ex parte writ of sequestration authorizing the seizure of the disputed equipment. St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz then authorized Fortier himself to seize and store the machinery on his own property.²

The $50 Million Counter-Allegation

Rigid Constructors responded in kind. In court filings, the company alleged that Fortier’s management between 2021 and 2023 caused more than $50 million in cash to exit the business through, in the company’s words, “poor decisions and lack of controls around estimating and bidding” and the “use of Rigid Constructors to fund personal, non-business expenses and personal distributions.” The filings accuse Fortier of embezzlement, self-dealing, mismanagement, and financial statement misrepresentation.⁵¹

Fortier’s attorney, Samuel Masur, called the allegations defamatory and characterized the underlying dispute as being about the contested equipment bill of sale, not about any $50 million shortfall.¹

The Equipment Seizure Dispute

The fight over the machinery turned physical. In a December 2024 motion to dissolve the writ, Rigid alleged that Fortier and CF, LLC went well past any lawful seizure authority. According to that filing, on December 8, 2024, Fortier’s representatives gained unauthorized access to private property in Maurice and New Iberia, Louisiana, to remove equipment. Three days later, they allegedly attempted to remove an excavator from a customer’s job site in Beaumont, Texas, and disabled and sabotaged the machinery before leaving. Rigid characterized the actions as trespass and abuse of process, arguing that the writ authorized only the St. Landry Parish Sheriff to execute seizures, and only within that parish.²

Rigid also argued that the equipment bill of sale itself is null and unenforceable. Its position is that the company never released its signatures on the document, financing was never secured, and the equipment in question had already been transferred to Rigid two years earlier under the 2022 contribution agreement tied to the original 50% ownership sale. If that argument holds, Fortier cannot have sold the company something it already owned.²

Where the Case Stands

A hearing on Rigid’s motion to dissolve the writ was set for January 2025 in the 15th Judicial District Court, along with a venue exception hearing. A separate filing in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court appeared on the docket in November 2025 before Judge Louise Hines.⁶²

As of mid-2026, the civil litigation is unresolved. The parties continue to dispute the validity of the equipment bill of sale, ownership of the seized machinery, and the proper venue. Rigid Constructors, now under new leadership and majority-owned by Settoon Capital, is pressing its claim that Fortier mismanaged more than $50 million. Fortier maintains, through counsel, that the allegations are defamatory and that the company simply owes him what it agreed to pay on his way out.¹

Separate Investigations Involving Fortier and Rigid

Several other proceedings often show up in the same searches but are not part of this lawsuit. They involve the same company and, in some cases, the same conduct, but they are separate tracks.

Reported FBI Investigation

By August 2022, the FBI was reportedly investigating Rigid Constructors’ involvement in Lafayette Consolidated Government drainage work and looking at the relationship between Fortier and then Mayor-President Josh Guillory. Federal agents interviewed multiple witnesses. Neither Guillory nor Fortier publicly confirmed FBI contact, and the bureau declined to confirm or deny an investigation.⁷

Guillory Indictment

On February 19, 2026, a St. Martin Parish grand jury indicted Guillory on four counts of felony malfeasance in office tied to the “Apollo” spoil bank removal project, a $3.7 million job that had been added to a smaller Rigid contract without new competitive bidding in early 2022. Guillory was booked and released on a $30,000 bond and has denied wrongdoing, calling the prosecution politically motivated. Fortier has not been charged in that matter.⁸⁹

SBA Small Business Ruling

In 2022, competitor Riverside Construction Co. protested Rigid’s eligibility to bid as a small business on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project on Louisiana’s Red River, arguing that Rigid was affiliated with dozens of other entities through Fortier’s common ownership. The SBA requested tax returns and financial records for Rigid and its acknowledged affiliates. Rigid submitted heavily redacted records for some entities and claimed others had no revenue without supporting evidence. The SBA drew an adverse inference and found the company was “other than a small business.” The Office of Hearings and Appeals affirmed on February 24, 2023, and the Corps excluded Rigid from the procurement.³

Legislative Auditor Report

In August 2025, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor issued an investigative report on the same spoil bank project, concluding the Guillory administration violated state public bid law, the Home Rule Charter, and federal statutes including the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. The auditor referred its findings to the 15th Judicial District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana. The report addressed LCG’s conduct rather than Fortier’s personally.¹⁰

1
The Current. LCG Drainage Contractor Alleges Ex-CEO Mismanaged $50M in Company Funds
2
The Current. Motion to Dissolve Writ of Sequestration
3
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. SBA No. SIZ-6193
4
Newswire. Rigid Constructors Appoints Steve Means as CEO
5
KATC. Lawsuit Filed Over Rigid Constructors Management
6
Trellis Law. Cody M. Fortier et al
7
The Current. FBI Said to Be Probing LCG Drainage Contractor, Potential Relationship With Mayor-President Josh Guillory
8
The Current. Former M-P Guillory Indicted on Malfeasance Charges by St. Martin Parish Grand Jury
9
The Advocate. Auditors: Lafayette’s Handling of Spoil Bank Project Illegal
10
Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Investigative Audit of LCG Spoil Bank Removal Project