A trio of executives fired from Denver-based Vinyl Me, Please record club have responded to an updated lawsuit against them by adding details to their counter-suit that they say prove their innocence. They are alleging breach of contract and withheld severance, which they say stems from vindictive board members at the Denver-based company.
Adam Block, Cameron Schaefer and Richard L. Kylberg are listed as the plaintiffs in the counter-suit, which was first filed this summer and updated on Sept. 13 in response to an updated complaint from VMP, which was filed on Aug. 30.
Kylberg is also planning to file an individual response to VMP’s updated lawsuit against them, Block told The Denver Post.
The back-and-forth has been going for nearly five months. The VMP board in May fired and sued Block, Schaefer and Kylberg for allegedly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in company funds to a separately owned record-pressing plant in the River North Art District, which the suit characterized as a pricey pet project. They used NDAs, a secret codename and other methods to obscure the project, VMP’s lawsuit alleges.
Block, Schaefer and Kylberg then responded with a July countersuit. VMP updated its original, May lawsuit on Aug. 30, and the former execs responded with their updated complaint Sept. 13.
VMP is an upscale record-reissue company that charges more than $50 per month or $500, per year for subscriptions. Schaefer was the CEO, Block the CFO, and Kylberg the chief strategy officer.
“To date, the pressing plant has not demonstrated the ability to press vinyl records in a timely or professional manner,” the Denver District Court lawsuit reads.
But the executives are saying in their counter-suit that they were unjustly terminated and are seeking “appropriate remedies and sanctions” against VMP.” They are also asking for monetary damages, penalties and attorney’s fees, the suit reads.
Schaefer believes he is entitled to severance payments of more than $165,000, while Block said he owed $135,000.
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“Upon information and belief, this bad faith lawsuit is being pushed and paid for by a board member, Keith Stoltz …” according to the countersuit. “… who is extraordinarily wealthy and who has, in the past, openly boasted to these Defendants that he has in bad faith fired and then filed meritless lawsuits against former employees of other companies that he owns to ‘teach them a lesson’ and to punish them when they did not follow his directives.”
The counter-suit further alleges that the execs were fired in order to avoid paying them severance, and to attempt to force them through expensive litigation to forfeit their ownership in the company. The fired executives are being represented by Stephen E. Csajaghy and Marisa Hudson-Arney of Denver’s Condit Csajaghy LLC.
Vinyl Me, Please, representatives did not respond to Denver Post requests for comment, but they are expected to file an answer to the counter-suit on Oct. 11, Block said.
The company is also facing backlash from current and former members who have complained of price increases, months-long shipping delays and narrowing options for their subscriptions.