FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/ :52 PM INDEX NO /2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2018

Transcription

1 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/ :52 PM INDEX NO /2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2018

2 FILED: ~asar 0 a'~aa~1 NEW a YORK &41%4'5 MV COUNTY V'41m % &A4aaAalt CLERK m 03/15/2018 'V I a & I at & a r && 07:52 0 aaa apm INDEX NO /2016 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK X JULIE MARCUS, Plaintiff, : Index No.: /2016 -against- : COMPLAINT SACHA TAYLOR, JOE ROBINSON, and SIGNALRAY MEDIA LLC (a/k/a SIGNALRAY : LLC, n/k/a HALO EXECUTIVE SEARCH), : Defendants. : x (" Marcus" COMES NOW Plaintiff Julie Marcus ("Marcus"), by and through her undersigned attorneys, and presents her Complaint against Defendants Sacha W. Taylor, Joe Robinson, and Signalray Media LLC, also known as Signal Ray LLC and now known as Halo Executive Search "Defendants" (together, the "Defendants") alleging as follows: Nature of the Case 1. This action for fraudulent inducement, breach of an employment agreement, and violations of federal and state wage claims, among others, arises from the Defendants' misrepresentations to Plaintiff Julie Marcus inducing her to give up other work opportunities and join Signal Ray Media LLC as a full-time employee, only after which she discovered that the Defendants did not have sufficient work for her and, ultimately, would fail to pay her wages and other promised amounts. 2. By this action, the Plaintiff is seeking, among other things, compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages, and attorneys' fees and costs. The Plaintiff's damages in this action exceed the sum of $25, nw 1o

3 FILED: a aa~aa a aaaa NEW ~t ayork vaaaa aalu COUNTY aaasa" a aaaaaaaaaa CLERK a03/15/2018 m I a m I aa v a a aalu 07:52 a ma apm aa INDEX NO /2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/201 03/15/2018 The Parties 3. Plaintiff Julie Marcus is an individual residing in New York, New York. 4. Defendant Signalray Media, LLC (also known as Signal Ray LLC and now known as Halo Executive Search) ("Signalray" Company" or "the Company"), Plaintiff's former employer, is, upon information and belief, a New York Corporation with its principal place of business at 832 Broadway, 6th Floor, NY, NY Signalray's web address, www signalrav.com, currently reflects the website for "Halo Venture (" Taylor" 5. Defendant Sacha Taylor ("Taylor") Partners." is, upon information and belief, an individual residing at 640 Broadway, Apt. 1A, New York, New York Taylor is, upon information and belief, the Managing Partner of Signalray and the Managing Partner of Halo Venture Partners and Halo Executive Search. (" 6. Defendant Joe Robinson ("Robinson) is, upon information and belief, an individual residing at 832 Broadway, Apartment 6, New York, New York Robinson is, upon information and belief, the co-founder and lead investor of Signalray and Halo Venture Partners, and the President of iheartmedia Ventures, Background Facts 7. Plaintiff works in executive search as a researcher and a recruiter. She has over 20 years of experience in the industry. 8. Plaintiff began doing part-time work for Signalray in or about February Between February 2014 and July 2014, Plaintiff worked for Defendants on a project-by-project basis and, as a result of her exemplary performance, was asked in or about August 2014 to join Signalray full-time. 1 n+ 1 fl

4 FILED: NEW.-- YORK COUNTY --- CLERK --,--,..--, 03/15/ , 07:52..., PM INDEX NO / Specifically, the Defendants represented to Plaintiff that she was being hired to work full-time (40 hours or more per week) in order to help them build up their executive search and placement business. 10. The Defendants also represented to Plaintiff that they were very busy and had more than enough work for Plaintiff. 11. The Defendants also represented to Plaintiff that on or about October 11, 2014 she would be paid an additional $15K in connection with the placement of a VP with iheartmedia -- Michael Keohane, Vice President, Digital Sales. 12. The Defendants also represented that they would reimburse Plaintiff for her business and medical expenses. 13. Plaintiff reasonably relied on the oral and written representations made to her by the Defendants. 14. In addition, the Defendants informed Plaintiff that once she started in her role she could not work for other companies. As a result, Plaintiff turned down work from another Company and stopped looking for other full- or part-time work. 15. The employment agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant Signalray is reflected in writings between the parties including, but not limited to, an from Plaintiff Marcus to Defendant Taylor, dated August 17, 2014, confirming most of the terms of the working arrangement (and reflecting a Signalray Media signature block): Subject: Recap in no particular order Monday and Tuesday - to meet in the apartment to plan the week - weekly meeting No official "announcement" about me until the beginning of October Presentation package add bios Compensation: 2 2 n+ IA

5 FILED: m~aa~ ~~asar ~ asae NEW ~\e aa YORK ~awaa Waias ~~~avw WWmai~ COUNTY w ~ m~aaawaa Waa~a~a~ CLERK a ml~~a 03/15/2018 a mg~~aa Wm ~mar r uv 07:52 vrv v aaw saw apm asa INDEX NO /2016 4K split out 50% around the 15th and 30th of each month - 9/2 2k 15-25% of completed searched VP role start date days to pay around K to Julie Medical 20-30% allowance after 60 days - premium to rise to $ Travel to be paid for anything specific that comes up in regards to monies can be discussed Job descriptions and or Names of candidates that have skill set for role: SWT to provide Account Executive - jb VP East Integrative - reaching out to Arian Adaramoye, JM needs jp SVP Agency Relations - SWT to provide some names for direction (Tim Spangler possibly leaving) Creative Role - to be sussed out - is a relationship builder Pres US Outdoors - Introductions: Megan - Spongecell - Melina - McAndrew Forbes - biz/dev V Emily - CC talent acquisition search Laura Hagen - CC?? or wait until you return? Julie to work on: -finding AE digital talent and interview them - goal 5-10 great people -build out a list for VP E Integrated -build out a list - Jim Norton AOL example - develop a list, not publishing look at Gannett, Cox, Turner and other terrestrial like firms I think that hits everything. Julie SIGNALRAY MEDIA, LLC Julie Marcus [REDACTED PHONE NUMBER] direct [REDACTED PHONE NUMBER] office media ly3mjjpjseedi cpm ccon1pjgpfsign-a.hav-mediadic 3 ~+ 1A1 A

6 FILED: mammy r avast NEW ~ amass' YORK ~~amass COUNTY a maaasawas CLERK av 03/15/2018 t alai awa r VV 07:52 r asa S, PM s ~ INDEX NO / As shown in the August 17th between Plaintiff and Defendant Taylor, Plaintiff was to be paid (i) a base salary of four-thousand dollars a month -- paid bi-weeldy, and (ii) 15-25% of completed searches. In addition, Plaintiff was to be paid $15K on or about October 11, 2014 in connection with the placement of a VP candidate with iheartmedia as described above. Other terms of compensation included medical allowance of 20-30% after 60 days and reimbursement for business and other expenses, including travel. 17. Plaintiff began working for the Company as its "Director" in August 2014 pursuant to the terms of their agreement and, over the next several months, Plaintiff built out the Company's database to several hundred people, provided competitive intelligence, managed the database, and created client presentations. During this time, Plaintiff was forced to rearrange her schedule many times to accommodate Sacha Taylor's schedule, working late into the evening and on some weekends. 18. In addition, Plaintiff traveled to Orlando for the Master of Advertisers Conference on behalf and at the request of the Defendants. 19. At no time did any of the Defendants dispute the terms of the agreement set forth in the from Plaintiff Marcus to Defendant Taylor and Plaintiff performed services as Signalray's Director in accordance with those terms. 20. In or about October and November 2014, Plaintiff complained to the Defendants that she had not been paid wages earned or reimbursed for business and medical expenses. 21. Shortly thereafter, on or about November 8, 2014, the Defendants terminated Plaintiff's employment without notice or cause. Plaintiff was offered no severance and, despite repeated requests, has still not been paid and/or reimbursed the amounts owed. 4 n+ 1A

7 FILED: a aaat~ 0 a%as'~~ NEW 4YORK V'4'tA'I VCOUNTY V'Vsbk 4 ~asaaslsl CLERK & 03/15/2018 V I a 'v f a V+ ) v07:52 v 0 aa apm aa INDEX NO /2016 FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Fraudulent Inducement against Defendants) 22. Plaintiff repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-21 as if fully set forth herein. 23. As shown above, prior to starting her full-time employment with the Company, the Defendants made a number of representations to Plaintiff in order to induce her to join the Company. Specifically, the Defendants represented to Plaintiff that they were very busy and had more than enough work for Plaintiff; the Defendants also represented to Plaintiff that on or about October 11, 2014 she would be paid an additional $15K in connection with the placement of a VP with iheartmedia; the Defendants also represented that they would reimburse Plaintiff for her business and medical expenses. 24. The statements made to Plaintiff were knowingly false and/or otherwise misleading. 25. The Defendants made these statements with the improper intention that Plaintiff rely on them, forego other opportunities, and join the Company as its Director. 26. Plaintiff reasonably relied on the Defendants misrepresentations to her detriment. 27. Among other things, Plaintiff gave up and/or stopped seeking other work opportunities as a result of the statements made by Defendants. 28. As a result of the foregoing, Marcus has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial but believed to be no less than $100,000. SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Breach of Employment Contract against Defendant Signalray) 29. Plaintiff Marcus repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-28 as if fully set forth herein. 5 r+ 1A

8 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/ :52 PM INDEX NO / spell avaaaa 'VVVaza a ,..., J Plaintiff Marcus and Defendant Signalray entered into an employment agreement "Agreement" (the "Agreement") whereby Plaintiff was to serve as Signalray's Director and perform executive research and placement, among other services. 31. Pursuant to the agreement, Defendant was to pay Plaintiff $4K per month, plus 15-25% for completed searches, plus $15K on or about October 11, 2014 in connection with a particular placement, plus medical allowance of 20-30% after 60 days, plus reimbursement for expenses, including travel. 32. Despite Plaintiff's complete and exemplary performance under the Agreement, Defendant breached the Agreement by failing to pay Plaintiff the $15K due to her on or about October 11, 2014 and by failing to reimburse her for her business expenses and medical allowance. 33. As a result of the Defendants breach of contract, Marcus has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial but believed to be no less than $25,000. THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Unjust Enrichment against Defendants) 34. Plaintiff Marcus repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-31 as if fully set forth herein. 35. Plaintiff Marcus provided valuable services for Defendants in the form of executive search and other assistance including, but not limited to, building out the Company's database to several hundred people, providing competitive intelligence, managing the database. and creating client presentations. 36. The Defendants accepted these valuable services from Plaintiff but did not compensate Plaintiff commensurate with the value of the services provided. 6 7 ~+ 1h

9 FILED: NEW... YORK --COUNTY CLERK --, 03/15/ , - --, -..., 07:52 -.., PM INDEX NO /2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2018 YSCEF DOC. NO. 25 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/ As a result of the foregoing, the Defendants have been unjustly enriched and Marcus has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial but believed to be no less than $25,000. FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Promissory Estoppel against Defendants) 38. Plaintiff Marcus repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-35 as if fully set forth herein. 39. In connection with the work performed by Plaintiff for the Defendants, the Defendants clearly and unambiguously promised to pay Plaintiff $15K on or about October 11, 2014 in connection with a particular placement, medical allowance of 20-30% after 60 days, and reimbursement for expenses, including travel. 40. The Plaintiff reasonably and foreseeably relied on the Defendants' promises. 41. The Defendants breached their promises to Plaintiff by failing to pay her the aforementioned amounts. 42. As a result of the foregoing, Plaintiff Marcus has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial but believed to be no less than $25,000. FIFTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Unlawful Deductions in Violation of New York Labor Law 193 against Defendants) 43. Plaintiff Marcus repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-39 as if fully set forth herein. 44. NYLL 193 prohibits covered employers, such as Defendants, from making deductions from the wages of any employee. 7 n+ 1A

10 FILED: a~&i& %lail NEW ~ a4 YORK %tabs'5 %F4'I&'b &t%f%ja'i &%F COUNTY %f4%aw aq ~&4%4 &ae&4%4\ CLERK L%\48 A03/15/2018 V I %& V%JI et 44PV& 4I4 ~0 w'%pv& 07:52 r9 aa 48a& a& PM a~ a< 4 INDEX NO /2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/201 03/15/ Defendants made unlawful deductions and withholdings from the wages of Plaintiff when Defendants: (i) failed to pay her the wages she was owed; and (ii) failed to reimburse her for business and medical expenses. 46. Defendants did not have a good faith basis to believe that their failure to pay wages or reimburse expenses was in compliance with the law As a result of Defendants' willful and unlawful conduct, Plaintiff is entitled to an award of damages in an amount to be determined at trial. SlXTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Violations of New York Labor Law 215 against Defendants) 48. Plaintiff Marcus repeats and realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-45 as if fully set forth herein. 49. NYLL 215(1)(a)(i) prohibits employers, their agents, or "any other person" from, among other things, "discharge[ing], threaten[ing], penaliz[ing], or in any other manner discriminat[ing] or retaliate[ing] against any employee... because such employee has made a complaint... that the employer has engaged in conduct that the employee, reasonably and in good faith, believes violates any chapter..." provision of this chapter...." 50. In or about October and November 2014, Plaintiff Marcus complained to Defendants that they had failed to pay her wages owed and reimbursed her expenses. 51. Shortly thereafter, on or about November 8, 2014, Defendants terminated Plaintiff's employment. 52. Upon information and belief, Defendants terminated Plaintiff's employment in retaliation for her complaints regarding her unpaid wages and unreimbursed business and medical expenses. 8 aq ~c r+ in1a

11 ..._ _... FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/ :52, PM INDEX NO /2016 YSCEF DOC. NO. 25 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/201 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/ As a result of Defendants' willful and unlawful conduct, Plaintiff is entitled to an award of damages in an amount to be determined at trial. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully demands the following relief: (a) Compensatory damages; (b) Punitive damages; (c) Statutory damages; (d) Injunctive relief in the form of disgorgement of Signalray's ill-gotten gains; (e) Costs and disbursements of this suit, including reasonable attorneys' fees and experts' fees; (f) Pre- and post-judgment interest; and (g) Such other relief as to this Court may deem just, equitable, and proper. Dated: New York, New York October 10, 2017 FISHERBROYLES, LLP By: n an Evan Goldberg, Esq. 106 West 32nd Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY (212) jonathan.coldbera@fisherbrovles.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Julie Marcus 9 la n+ la