Richmond Sues Sponsor / Sponsor counter suing RFC (The Age)

[WilliamPowell]

Richmond sponsor blames Dustin Martin 'chopstick' incident for legal fallout

Date April 20, 2016
10:32AM 
Tom Cowie Reporter

 
A Richmond Football Club sponsor being sued by the Tigers for not paying its bills says it will countersue because the Dustin Martin 'chopstick' affair was a breach of its sponsorship agreement.

Richmond is taking its "sustainability sponsor" Metro Solar to court after the Gippsland company allegedly failed to pay up more than half of its dues for the 2015 season.

The club filed a writ in the County Court last week demanding the company pay $100,000, which it claims has been left unpaid since October last year.

Dustin Martin was cleared of any wrongdoing by police over an incident at a restaurant last year.
 
Over two instalments, court documents show, Metro Solar paid the Tigers $92,500 but then missed a third payment of $100,000 in October last year.

Richmond is also seeking damages for a breach of an agreement by Metro Solar to pay $185,000 in sponsorship cash for the 2016 season.

That agreement ended after Metro Solar failed to arrange when it would pay, Richmond claims.

However, Metro Solar denies that there was any formal sponsorship arrangement with Richmond and any agreement it did have was actually breached by the Tigers.

The company claims it had the right to end its deal with Richmond after the club signed on another energy supplier AGL as a sponsor, despite it being a direct competitor to Metro Solar.

The company's lawyer also said Richmond had been brought into disrepute by the actions of star player Dustin Martin, who allegedly threatened a woman with a chopstick at a Windsor restaurant in December last year.

The Tigers star was reportedly intoxicated after spending the day at a music festival when he allegedly became angry towards a 30-year-old Sydney woman who told him to calm down.

 Despite police clearing him of any wrongdoing over the incident, Richmond slapped Martin with a $5000 suspended fine. Martin also apologised for the incident.

"Our client has received a number of complaints from customers expressing serious concern in relation to their continued sponsorship relationship with RFC," Ben Skinner from Evans Ellis Lawyers told Fairfax Media.

Mr Skinner said Metro Solar would be seeking its own compensation from Richmond over the dispute in the form of a legal counter claim.

When approached for comment, a Richmond spokesperson said: "The club has taken legal action to recover money owed and won't be making any comment while the matter is before the courts."

Metro Solar has been a Richmond sponsor for nearly three years. The company installed 399 solar panels on the roof of the club's Punt Road headquarters in 2014.

According to Richmond's statement of claim, Metro Solar CEO Anthony O'Connell told the club that it didn't have the money to pay the club what was owed.

In lieu of cash, the Tigers claim Mr O'Connell offered an "alternative solution" to payment by installing more solar panels on Punt Road. Richmond declined the offer.

The Tigers outlined nine separate requests it made for Metro Solar to pay the outstanding money, the last being a phone call by Richmond CEO Brendan Gale to Mr O'Connell in February.

Metro Solar was previously the shorts sponsor for the Melbourne Football Club

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/richmond-tigers/richmond-sponsor-blames-dustin-martin-chopstick-incident-for-legal-fallout-20160418-go8ux9.html#ixzz46Kl6oCGg

[(•))(©™]

What a pack of opportunistic dogs. Pay up.

[🏅Dooks]

Didn't have the money, offered solar panels. The counter sued when offer not acceptesld lelelelelelel 

[Andyy]

Lmao

'Hi I wanted solar panels but I see your sponsor RFC and Dusty tried to chopstick a lady so I'm not going with your company now'

Please

If it's a proper sponsorship contract they will have to pay up

[one-eyed]

Dusty’s chopstick saga shadows solar deal

Angus Thompson
Herald-Sun
21 April 2016

DUSTIN Martin’s chopsticks scandal is at the centre of a court stoush between Richmond Football Club and a solar energy company over a soured sponsorship deal.

The Tigers star was cleared in January of threatening to kill a woman with a chopstick in a Prahran restaurant during an incident on December 5.
The Mr Miyagi restaurant where the incident took place.

But the saga has come back to haunt the club over claims it has sullied a sponsor’s image with its customers.
Dustin Martin at Mr Miyagi Japanese restaurant with a chop stick in his hand. Picture: supplied.

Richmond is suing Metro Solar in the County Court, claiming it is owed $100,000 over a two-year sponsorship agreement.

The club claims in a writ filed last week that the Gippsland-based company paid just $92,500 of the $192,500 owed to it in 2015 and has made numerous demands for the outstanding money.

Richmond alleges that in a November, 2015, meeting between the business and the club, Metro Solar director Anthony O’Connell said the company didn’t have the money to pay the club.

Richmond also claims that in breach of the deal, Metro Solar failed to agree on timing for the instalments totalling $185,000 due for 2016.

Richmond claims that by its conduct Metro Solar reneged on the sponsorship agreement, which was terminated in March.

But Evans Ellis Lawyers firm principal Ben Skinner claimed the fallout surrounding Martin was one of two reasons Metro Solar was entitled to end the agreement.

“The case of Dustin Martin gave our client the ability to terminate (the deal) by bringing their brand into disrepute,” Mr Skinner told the Herald Sun.

He said Metro Solar had received a significant number of complaints from customers questioning its association with the football club over its handling of the claims.

“This has been raised directly with Richmond in correspondence,” he said.

Mr Skinner also claimed Richmond appointed a direct competitor of Metro Solar as a co-sponsor, thereby damaging his client’s financial gain.

He said Metro Solar would be filing and serving a defence or counter-claim within the next two weeks.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/dustin-martins-chopsticks-scandal-hits-richmond-football-club-metro-solar-sponsorship-deal/news-story/aee3375f0fae14c02b773db24fea9061