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Many avid New York movie buffs may have seen the 2000 film “Boiler Room,” but few of them may have been aware that there was a lot of unrelated drama related involving the real life individuals whom the movie’s protagonists are based. These issues arose years after the movie was released. In the movie, Ben Affleck portrays a business executive who, after facing his own legal challenges, goes on to found his own company. The real life business man in 2012 discovered an employee had been allegedly stealing from the company.
According to the business executive, the employee breached his contract by taking kickbacks from clients and costing him approximately $600,000. He fired his employee during a staff meeting using some strong language and, unfortunately for him, someone made a video of the termination and posted it online later the same day.
Whereas the business executive has filed a lawsuit for breach of contract against the former employee, the employee has counter-sued for defamation, claiming the humiliating video was posted online at the business owner’s request. The dispute has been ongoing for years-the termination took place early 2012. The case is finally going to trial soon. It will be interesting to see how the court handles the matter, and those who find themselves in a similar position may be able to learn some lessons.
A contract dispute like this can have a tremendous impact on businesses not just financially, but also to their image in the market. The non-breaching party should be aware that they have many legal remedies available to them, so it is often in their best interest to consider consulting an experienced attorney to discuss their options.
Source: New York Post, “Video captures raging exec’s ‘Get the f-k out’ public firing,” Lia Eustachewich, Dec. 22, 2015
