Independent Sports & Entertainment alleged in court documents that former President of Basketball Dan Fegan violated his non-compete agreement and a state judge' temporary restraining order, but the NBA agent's attorney disputed that claim, calling it "fake news." It is the latest twist in the bitter legal battle that started when ISE fired Fegan on March 10 and filed suit against him, seeking a TRO to restrict him from competing with the agency. Aylton Tesch, one of two NBA agents who resigned after Fegan was fired, set up a company called Dynasty Sports Group on March 24. Fegan, who has operated under the name Dynasty Sports Group before, was under a TRO which prohibited him from competing with ISE -- including forming or joining another company -- at the time Tesch filed the registration for the new Dynasty Sports Group with the California Secretary of State's office. In court papers last week, ISE alleged while waiting for a court decision in the case, Fegan "used the time to violate both the TRO and the non-compete clause by colluding with those that resigned from ISE to set up a competing business." The allegation was in court documents supporting ISE's motion to force Fegan's lawsuit against ISE CEO Hank Ratner and other ISE employees into arbitration. Tesch has previously declined comment on Dynasty Sports Group and did not return a phone yesterday. A Fegan spokesperson yesterday said Fegan "has no involvement with Dynasty." Michael Kump, one of Fegan's attorneys, said, “The allegation that Dan Fegan violated the state court TRO is more fake news from Hank Ratner and his lawyers. As they know, Mr. Fegan did not violate the TRO during the mere 21 days it was in effect. The TRO expired long ago on April 7, and there has been no injunction since then because ISE lost its motion for a preliminary injunction. So all of this talk about an old, expired TRO is just more bluster from Ratner designed to deflect attention from his fraudulent and tortious conduct, which has finally been exposed in the recent state court complaint filed by Mr. Fegan.”
ISE'S CASE IN ARBITRATION: ISE's case against Fegan is now being heard in arbitration. Fegan's lawsuit, which seeks in excess of $30M in damages, alleges that Ratner tried to destroy his reputation and steal his NBA player clients. James Fogelman, one of ISE's attorneys, said, "The only one trying to ‘steal’ anything here is Dan Fegan, who sold his business to ISE for many millions of dollars yet now has the audacity to claim he can compete anyway and take back what he sold. It's a classic con job, one that he's apparently executed before. Mr. Fegan has already violated both his contractual obligations and a court order, and he apparently intends to continue with this reckless conduct. ISE expects that justice will be done and that Mr. Fegan will be held accountable for his actions."
