Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Westchester Managing Partner Donald Derrico and Senior Counsel Rachel Gruenberg achieved a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of a New York-based investment advisory firm following a six-day jury trial in New York County Supreme Court relating to claims of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, and New York labor law.
The plaintiff claimed that GRSM’s client, an investment advisory firm, breached an oral agreement for bonus compensation involving a $15 million capital commitment to a private equity fund that he procured from an investor during his employment at the firm. The plaintiff claimed that the parties reached an agreement regarding his bonus compensation based on various text messages, an email, and an in-person meeting with GRSM’s client and that, although the agreement was never memorialized in writing, the defendant’s conduct led the plaintiff to believe that there was an agreement between the parties.
The GRSM team challenged the plaintiff’s credibility and argued that there was no meeting of the minds sufficient to create an agreement between the parties. Throughout the trial, the defense team vigorously contested the plaintiff’s theories, leading the plaintiff to voluntarily discontinue his claims under unjust enrichment and quantum meruit.
Following deliberations, the jury concluded that the plaintiff failed to prove by a fair preponderance of the evidence that there was an agreement between the parties regarding his bonus compensation and that GRSM’s client did not violate New York labor law.