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Nets investor's lawsuit against Ratner dismissed

I hadn't written about it when it was filed in May 2007, but a lawsuit by Nets investor Eugene Greene, claiming that Nets majority owner Bruce Ratner reneged on promises of inner-circle perks as a member of the team's Board of Governors, has been dismissed by a State Supreme Court judge.

The story appeared July 25 in the New York Law Journal, which later posted the opinion. It hasn't been picked up because--perhaps--the publication is subscription-only and few people noticed.

Greene's lawsuit, which sought $20 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages and featured the alleged claim that Ratner executives told Greene he'd been "f----d" out of the deal, drew some tabloid-like coverage from the Brooklyn Paper and three dailies, as rounded up by No Land Grab. Also see DDDB.

From the decision

Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn's decision cites some information that hadn't surfaced earlier:
Although not alleged in the complaint, plaintiff has acknowledged, in his Memorandum of Law submitted in opposition to the motion, that the $6,000,000 investment was returned in 2004... and that he now seeks only the value of what was promised to him for the work he performed on behalf of defendants...

And what was that value? The decision notes that Greene acknowledges that there was no "express written or oral agreement specifying the exact terms" of his compensation.

Greene's lawyer, Jonathan S. Sack, told the New York Law Journal that Greene was considering an appeal.

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