Multi-year legal dispute resolves favorably for ECS and owner Sterling Becklin

GRANTS PASS, Ore., Aug. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- After three years of contentious litigation, ECS Composites ("ECS" or the "Company"), Becklin Holdings, and related companies owned by Sterling Becklin recovered nearly $900,000 to resolve two lawsuits arising from issues related to Casey Ingels' brief tenure as President CEO of Becklin Holdings d/b/a ECS Composites. 

In March 2025, ECS agreed to accept $425,000 in a non-confidential settlement to resolve a lawsuit pending in Oregon involving Ingels, Grey Ghost, Grey Ghost Gear, Grey Ghost Precision, and Kathryn Hanson (the managing director of the Grey Ghost companies). That settlement was on top of a $458,000 partial judgment Stubborn Mule—another company owned by Mr. Becklin—received in a separate matter in federal court in Idaho against Grey Ghost Precision. 

The settlement and partial judgment resolved the complex dispute favorably for Mr. Becklin and his related companies, including Stubborn Mule, ERA3, and Becklin Land & Cattle. 

"I'm very pleased with this outcome," said Mr. Becklin, President of ECS Composites and Chairman of the Board of Becklin Holdings. "ECS is a family, and our focus is as much on protecting that family as it is on building the world's most trusted protective cases—including those for America's next-gen and advanced weapons systems."

Background on Legal Dispute
ECS hired Casey Ingels as its president and CEO in early 2020. Ingels held those positions until he was terminated in January 2022. After his termination, Ingels filed suit in Oregon state court claiming he had been wrongfully terminated. ECS denied the allegations and brought counterclaims against Ingels, Hanson, the Grey Ghost companies, and two other individuals. In its counterclaims, ECS alleged that, during Ingels' brief tenure as CEO, he and others from the Grey Ghost companies orchestrated transactions that diverted over $2 million of ECS funds to himself and those associated with the Grey Ghost companies, including tens of thousands of dollars of credit card expenses for personal use, using payroll to benefit friends and family, theft of money owed on government and commercial contracts, the sale of a nonoperational armor press to ECS, and bank fraud. The Grey Ghost companies responded with claims of their own against ECS, Stubborn Mule, ERA3, and Becklin Land & Cattle.

In August 2022, Stubborn Mule filed a separate lawsuit in Idaho seeking to recover amounts owed to it by Grey Ghost Precision arising out of contracts for the purchase of custom-machined gun parts. Grey Ghost Precision responded with counterclaims.

Over the three years these cases were pending, ECS and Becklin vigorously asserted their defenses and pursued their claims against Ingels and the rest. Discovery in these cases saw the exchange of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and dozens of hours of depositions.

As part of the non-confidential settlement, the parties agreed to dismiss and release all pending claims in exchange for the Grey Ghost companies' payment of $425,000 to ECS. All parties denied liability for the pending claims.

ECS and Becklin were represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

More than 70 years of Innovation
ECS was founded in 1954 by Donald Morris Becklin. Today, the company is owned and led by Sterling Becklin, Donald's grandson.

ECS has a strong record of innovation, evolving from a leading provider of wooden shipping crates in the 1950s to a premier manufacturer utilizing a variety of advanced materials in its production efforts today – production that includes the Company's renowned Rackmount and Transit Case Solutions, long sought by customers across industry lines for its customization, modularity, and durability. ECS not only designs and builds top-tier protective cases and custom accessories for elite defense and commercial customers, but the tools and molds necessary to make the product, ensuring a seamless (and bespoke) process and creation.

In 2015, ECS introduced its vacuum-infused process (VIP) line, which set the industry on a new course. VIP materials are lighter and more durable, providing superior protection and custom-fit precision. Customers responded, and today VIP represents more than 25% of ECS's business. Additionally, ECS is the go-to provider of protective cases for numerous VTOL platforms and the world's foremost large-scale weaponized UAVs. ECS continues to explore creative ways to incorporate advanced technology and bespoke solutions into its offerings for customers, and has recently proven to be the premier protector of mission-critical data transfer systems via unmatched, ultra-lightweight carbon fiber designs (as seen with ITI Engineering).

About ECS Composites
ECS Composites (Environmental Container Systems) is a U.S.-based industry leader in the design and manufacturing of high-performance, custom protective cases primarily to the U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD"), its suppliers and prime contractors. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Grants Pass, Oregon, ECS serves a wide range of mission-critical industries including defense, special operations, and industrial manufacturing. With an unwavering commitment to quality, durability, and innovation, ECS delivers engineered solutions that protect the most sensitive equipment in the most demanding of environments. The company proudly supports the DoD, as well as its clients around the globe. For more information, visit www.ecscomposites.com.

Media Contact

Gaffney Bennett PR
ECS@gbpr.com

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SOURCE ECS Composites/Becklin Holdings