A Silicon Valley email-services provider did not owe preferred stock as part of an employee’s compensation plan, nor was it liable for money damages in the case, the Delaware Court of Chancery has ruled, stating further that the employee would be liable for the business’s legal bills under his employment contract and because he pursued a counterclaim in bad faith.
In Choupak v. Rivkin, dated April 6, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said Vladimir Rivkin, who provided in-house legal services to Intermedia.net Inc. without ever having passed the California bar exam, was entitled only to 4 percent of the equity in the startup company, as he and the company had agreed in 2000.
