Firm obtains $30M breach of contract settlement for auto executive
The firm obtained a $30 million settlement on behalf of a Massachusetts-based auto executive resolving his lawsuit against various defendants for breach of contract and other claims.
Benjamin Wish, a partner at the firm, is lead counsel in the matter. Other attorneys at the firm working on the case are Howard Cooper, Alycia Kennedy, and Rebecca O’Brien.
The firm’s client, David Rosenberg, is a longstanding owner and operator of various auto dealerships in Massachusetts and other New England states.
He and related family trusts filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts Superior Court when GPB Capital Holdings and related parties refused to honor a stock repurchase agreement and other agreements related to the acquisition of the majority interest in the client’s dealerships.
Mr. Rosenberg was retained as the operator of the dealerships post-acquisition. However, GPB Capital Holdings retaliated against Mr. Rosenberg when he reported financial wrongdoing by the company, including running a Ponzi-like scheme, eventually wrongfully terminating his employment.
The stock repurchase agreement allowed the client and the family trusts to exercise “put options” in four installments of $5.9 million over four years totaling $23.6 million.
GPB’s former CEO and two others connected with the company have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and securities fraud.