PlayUp legal dispute in new twist with restraining order denial
Confidentiality breaches row escalates as Nevada District Court removes temporary restraining order against embattled US CEO Dr Laila Mintas
The bitter legal case between PlayUp and its US CEO Dr Laila Mintas took a new turn earlier this week after a Nevada District Court judge removed a temporary restraining order against the under-fire CEO.
In hearings on Wednesday, Judge Gloria M. Navarro walked back on her prior decision to grant a temporary restraining order to PlayUp against Mintas, denying the firm an emergency motion for preliminary injunction against her.
New Jersey- and Colorado-licensed PlayUp filed for a temporary restraining order against its CEO in Nevada and Australia in a bid to prevent Mintas from publishing “false information” and trading in PlayUp’s assets in December.
The filing for a temporary restraining order centred on claims Mintas breached her employment agreement during negotiations concerning the proposed sale to FTX for $450m.
This order was initially granted on a temporary basis, pending the submission of additional documentation from a number of executives from within PlayUp.
Allegations against Mintas include threats to “burn PlayUp to the ground” rather than sell the business to FTX as well as the attempted sabotage of the deal, and threats to damage PlayUp’s reputation with commercial partners if salary and shareholding demands were not met.
Mintas allegedly asked for a doubling of her salary to $1m and shareholdings in the business to be increased to a 15% stake, as well as being promoted to PlayUp’s global CEO.
PlayUp’s global CEO is Daniel Simic, who founded the business. Documents claim Mintas attempted to force him from the role as part of her negotiations.
However, in both cases, PlayUp’s board of directors denied Mintas, leading to the alleged instances of confidentiality breaches and corporate sabotage.
The hearing follows almost a month of legal discussions and exhibit submissions between the two parties in which more than 46 separate exhibits have been provided, which EGR understands includes more than 417 pages of correspondence, internal files and paperwork.
Considering all these exhibits, Navarro granted Mintas’s representatives more time to submit supplementary evidence, before adjourning the court.
However, EGR has learned that two emails, dated November 9 from PlayUp global CEO Daniel Simic concerning alleged so-called ‘side-deals’ and an FTX-authored email setting out its rationale for pulling out of the $450m deal were omitted from the initial exhibits.
It is understood representatives acting for Dr Mintas have requested these documents be submitted as part of the case, necessitating the requirement for extended time to submit supplementary evidence.
The case continues.