More Rondberg Legal Woes
The legal problems of Terry Rondberg just never stop. He’s involved in so many lawsuits and affairs it is difficult to keep track of his sordid life. He settled out of court with his former RCS partner, David Jackson, whose co-defendant is allegedly now suing TR for $300,000 in legal fees for a frivolous lawsuit. The Yoga Shop owners, Peri and Charles DeFay are also suing TR for ruining their business and for malpractice when TR injured her while practicing without a California license. There were also rumors about his partnership with Quixote Software concerning non-payment of employee payroll taxes. As I said, it’s hard to keep up with this past dictator of the WCA.
On March 25, 2010 in the Superior Court of Arizona of Maricopa County in the Court of the Honorable Karen Potts, TR encountered a huge legal and financial blow. I doubt you’ll be reading about this in his Chiropractic Journal, so here’s a brief of this lawsuit.
This lawsuit concerned his CBS insurance brokerage and Compass Insurance Agency, Inc., that provided a marketing plan for CBS although TR complained that Compass was to provide underwriting services for his brokerage.
TR’s battle was over his Book of Business, consisting of professional liability insurance for members of CBS, belonged to him. According to the judge’s decision, “one of the primary issues in this case is what information constitutes the Book of Business.” TR argued that he “owns all files and data generated or maintained by Compass that relate in any way to the insurance policies purchased by CBS’ members, including underwriting and claims records.”
The Court rejected the notion that this general language defines what files or what data compose the Book of Business for several reasons: too vague; no credible evidence that the Book of Business encompasses underwriting files/data created or maintained by Compass; because Compass was contractually obligated to perform broker services, no underwriting files/data are included in the Book of Business owned by TR.
Most notably, “the Court finds his testimony lacks credibility.” I like this judge already. I can only imagine TR lying to the judge as he’s done so often to this profession, thinking the court would believe his drivel as his WCA sycophants do.
The good news for TR was the Court did find that CBS lost 1037 customers between 2007 and 2009 amounting to revenues from the loss of said customers total $222,950. If the judge were aware of TR’s reputation, this loss may have been attributed to his lowly image in the profession, not from anything Compass had done.
However, “The Plaintiffs (TR) failed to prove that Defendant Compass acted with an evil mind and thus punitive damages are not awarded.” Like I said, I like this judge who is obviously a good judge of character too.
Now, the bad news for TR and his stellar, WCA-funded attorney, Carlo Negrete. The Counterclaim by Compass claimed that CBS terminated the contract without notice.
“There was no evidence, other than Plaintiff Rondberg’s subjective intent, which he did not convey to Defendant Compass, that the intent of these Amendments was to change any language other than to change the date of notice. Plaintiff CBS is legally obligated to pay Defendant Compass an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of the Adjusted Gross Commissions for calendar years 2007 and 2008 under the Contract. Plaintiff CBS breached said Contract by failing to pay said commissions. Defendant Compass has suffered damages in the amount of $818,404.”
To pour salt into TR’s wound, the court also rejected his appeal for Compass to pay his legal fees.
“The Court is inclined to hold that each party shall bear its own attorney’s fee and costs given the findings herein.”
Unless TR is able to negotiate a settlement with Compass, as it stands he now owes Compass the balance of $592,454. Plus, he owes court costs, which means with the length of this trial, he may owe more than a million dollars.
So don’t be surprised if there is another plea from TR for contribution to the WCA Chiropractic Legal Defense Fund. You might want to ask yourself to which, or should I say whose, fund are you contributing?