Clark Smith Villazor notches another win for EOS Products co-founder in dispute with former business partner

October 14, 2024

Following September’s post-trial win in Delaware Chancery Court, CSV earned another victory this week for EOS Products co-founder Sanjiv Mehra in his dispute with his former business partner Jonathan Teller.  This win comes in a derivative action Mehra filed in New York Supreme Court’s Commercial Division.  In a fourteen-page decision issued on October 13, 2024, New York Supreme Court Justice Andrea Masley sided with Mehra, ruling that Teller and EOS employee Sarah Slover were not entitled to use company money to finance their defense of the Delaware action.  Agreeing with Mehra’s arguments, Justice Masley held that “the Delaware action by Mehra against Teller and [Slover] is an intra-party dispute, which is not covered by the indemnification provisions of” the relevant operating agreements “and that advancements of legal fees and costs by Teller were thus in violation of the operating agreements.”  Teller and Slover will be required to repay the company over $2.5 million that the company advanced to pay their fees and expenses in Delaware.