The co-founder of a local energy firm claims that an inner-company rival used a “sham investigation” and whisper campaign about his lifestyle to oust him as CEO.
Michael Duginski started Sentinel Peak Resources in late 2012 alongside George Ciotti. The Denver Tech Center-based company owns $3 billion of oil reserves, primarily in California.
Duginski says the business was doing well and weighing a possible sale when, in December, he was handed a memo that claimed he “exhibited unacceptable behavior in the workplace” and that a preliminary investigation by Sentinel Peak board members had uncovered “a concerning level of inappropriate behaviors that is putting the company at risk.”
Duginski was placed on leave but not told what he had done wrong or to whom, according to a lawsuit he filed July 28 against his former company. Meanwhile, the company hired Seyfarth Shaw, a large law firm out of Chicago, to further investigate its CEO.
Duginski says he heard nothing until April, when Seyfarth investigators interviewed him. Their questions were vague, he says, and he still wasn’t told what he had done wrong.
Their probe concluded the following month and, on May 23, Duginski received a letter: “A majority of the board determined that, based on the results of the investigation, there are sufficient grounds to end your employment for cause,” it read, according to Duginski.
Since there were four members of the board at that time and Duginski was one, the other three must have voted unanimously to fire him. Duginski says he asked for a copy of Seyfarth’s findings but, to this day, has never been told what he did or who he wronged.
Looking back, he now believes it was all part of a scheme by Ciotti, his fellow co-founder.
“Mr. Ciotti wanted to be the CEO of Sentinel Peak Resources, was disappointed not to be considered Mr. Duginski’s successor, and therefore initiated a sham investigation into Mr. Duginski to create a vacancy for the role he coveted,” last week’s lawsuit states.
In July, after he was replaced by Ciotti as CEO, Duginski says he had a series of revealing conversations at the Glenmoor Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, where he and Ciotti are members. Acquaintances had questions for Duginski about his “lifestyle,” he recalls.
“Mr. Ciotti had been spreading untrue rumors about Mr. Duginski in the first part of 2025, specifically that Mr. Duginski and his wife are swingers,” according to the lawsuit. “Mr. Ciotti shared the same information with executives and employees at SPR. This accusation is untrue, and Mr. Ciotti knew it was false but wanted to harm Mr. Duginski’s reputation.”
So, in addition to suing Sentinel Peak, Duginski is also suing Ciotti for defamation. He claims to have lost out on unspecified business and employment opportunities this year “as colleagues within his community and industry now have misconceptions about his character.”
From his former company, Duginski is seeking $650,000 in back wages, $3 million that he invested in Sentinel Peak, and the unknown value of his company stock. Duginski’s lawyers are Michael Freimann and Mamie Ling at Frost Brown Todd, who declined to comment.
Sentinel Peak attorney Erin Gleaton did not answer BusinessDen’s requests for comment.
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