LOS ANGELES—Jules Jordan through his corporate entity has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking $5 million from Manwin and Scott Justice, former JJV general manager and current Manwin employee, for breach of contract, fraud and other allegations.
The suit, which was amended and filed this week on behalf of Jules Jordan corporate parent Medina II, alleges that there was an oral contract in place for Jules Jordan Video to package and distribute titles from Brazzers, Mofos and Manwin, but that the agreement ended on July 25, 2011, “when the Manwin Defendants unilaterally withdrew from the Distribution Agreement and directed [JJV] to immediately ‘cease distributing, printing, reproducing, manufacturing, burning, packaging, or otherwise exploiting any Manwin, Mofos, or Brazzers DVDs.’”
The suit claims a letter informing Jordan of the cease and desist order arrived the same day that Scott Justice, who had been general manager of JJV since 2008, quit, effective immediately. The suit alleges that Justice as general manager “understood that he was responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of certain business information, including in particular the identity of [JJV’s] buyers for the Manwin Defendants’ videos.”
But once Justice quit, the plaintiff further alleges that he and several other key employees who left within that week (production manager Andrew Weber, office manager Bonnie Shapiro, warehouse manager Rodolfo Soto, warehouse employee Mario Lara, and sales representative Brett Reisner) began working for Manwin.
“Beginning just two business days after [Justice’s] abrupt departure, [JJV] learned that at least one of the newly departed employees was in touch with several of [JJV’s] customers, using the contacts that [Justice] previously informed the Manwin Defendants were confidential and proprietary.”
The suit alleges Justice used the Jules Jordan Video computer system without authorization, deleted numerous files and records, and consulted “with a technology specialist to ensure that the destruction would be permanent and irreversible.”
Medina II also alleges that Justice fraudulently added his girlfriend to the company’s health plan, refused to return a company car and exploited his position and company resources at JJV to gain employment with Manwin. It also claims that Manwin “aided and abetted” the acts and ratified the wrongful conduct by “hiring [Justice] and other [JJV] employees and receiving, accepting, and utilizing [JJV’s] property … and confidential customer lists and customer contact information.
The $5 million sought in the suit is for “actual and consequential damages, for punitive damages” and more.
Manwin and its U.S.-based unit Froytal, which is also named in the lawsuit, have filed a cross complaint seeking back revenues from DVDs distributed by Jules Jordan Video.
Both Manwin rep Kate Miller and JJV attorney Gary Gorham declined to comment to AVN about the suit since the actions are still pending in court.
A trial date that was orignially set for Aug. 27, 2012, has been rescheduled for March 2013.
