A Nevada jury found last week that Joe Asher, chief executive of William Hill US, did not breach the terms of his non-compete agreement with Cantor Gaming when he left the company to form his own venture, Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2007.
Cantor, the sportsbook operator now known as CG Technologies, filed suit in Clark County District Court against Asher in 2011 amid a deal to sell Brandywine to William Hill, the U.K. bookmaker, for $15.7 million.
Cantor alleged that Asher, who served as partner and managing director at the company before departing, violated his contract with regard to non-compete and confidentiality obligations by launching a company of his own.
Brandywine quickly grew into a network of 16 race and sports books throughout Las Vegas under the Lucky’s Race and Sports brand name.
Under his contract, Asher was allowed to leave Cantor at any time, but he was prohibited from competing with the company for four years and could not take customer information or trade secrets with him in the event that he did.
Cantor asserted that Asher did just that, and a marathon legal dispute dragged on for six years before reaching a climax last week with what many observers regarded as a surprise ruling by jurors in favor of Asher.
Asher seemingly used contacts and information obtained at Cantor to help build Brandywine, and his defense that Brandywine was not actually directly competing with Cantor was disputed by finding of facts released by the court, which explained that “Asher had intended to exploit the same race and sports wagering ideas Cantor had long planned and pursued.”
Nevertheless, the jury ruled that Asher’s actions did not constitute a breach of contract.
One commentator reckoned that the jury’s decision appeared to be a function of several factors, such as the fact that Cantor waited for four years – and not until William Hill sought to acquire Brandywine – before filing the lawsuit and CG Technology’s recent run-ins with regulators and law enforcement, which may have weighed on the minds of jurors.
Asher also prevailed in a separate countersuit requiring that Cantor repay his legal fees as well as money owed to him from his prior partnership with the company.
Cantor still has an option to appeal the decision.
