The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard (30 page)

109. Defendant Motown should have and could have known about the deficiencies of said foreign licensees if they had properly investigated the foreign licensees before entering into said agreements with them.

110. As a result of Defendant Motown’s lack of diligence and care . . . Miss Ballard has lost vast and substantial amounts of money and loss of rights.

111. Defendant Motown further breached terms of the said contract by engaging in the conspiracy to oust Miss Ballard from the “Supremes” as referred to in Count 1 of this complaint.

112. Defendant Motown breached the terms and conditions of said agreement and violated their duties to Miss Ballard by engaging in the conspiracy to fraudulently defraud Miss Ballard of the vast sums of money that she was entitled to receive. . . .

113. That as a result of the above described acts and omissions, breach of express provisions of said agreement, breach of fiduciary and special relationships, Defendant Motown has succeeded in causing irreparable damage to Miss Ballard and the public.

114. As a consequence of the acts and/or omissions on the part of the Defendants regarding their obligations under the said agreement, Miss Ballard has suffered and will suffer damage to her non-entertainment business interest, damage to her ability to receive fees and benefits from product endorsement and publicity appearances, and other damages in excess of $2,000,000.00. . . .

116. At all times from and after the effective date of August 10, 1964, the date of the agreement between Miss Ballard and Defendant International and continuously throughout the entire terms thereof up to and including the date of the filing of this complaint, Miss Ballard fully and faithfully performed her obligations. . . .

117. That at the time that Defendant International was acting in the capacity as Miss Ballard’s personal representative, agent, advisor, business and financial advisor and as business manager as it related to the total aspect of her professional career and personal affairs, Defendant Berry Gordy, Jr. in his capacities as the President of Motown, the President of International and in his individual capacity, was acting as Miss Ballard’s personal manager.

118. The said management agreement was drafted by the Defendant International and their attorneys without discussion or consultation with Miss Ballard or any attorney representing her interests.

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c 119. The said management agreement gave Defendant International almost complete and total control and direction over Miss Ballard as it related to her professional career; among other things, International was to be her exclusive manager, representative, advisor, agent, as it related to all phases of her professional and entertainment career; and generally, Defendant International was to exert itself to the best of its endeavors and to the utmost of its skill, power, and ability and to represent Miss Ballard in all branches of the entertainment field.

120. By the terms of the said agreements and by virtue of the fact that Defendant Berry Gordy, Jr., in his many roles and capacities as Miss Ballard’s personal manager and the President of International and controlling stockholder of International, Defendant International enjoyed and occupied a special fiduciary relationship with Miss Ballard.

121. By reason of the special confidence and fiduciary relationship, it was the duty and obligation of Defendant International, its respective officers, attorneys, agents, accountants and servants to exercise the utmost good faith, trust and care in the handling and managing of Miss Ballard’s financial and business affairs and her professional career.

122. Defendant International had fiduciary duties to Miss Ballard to exercise the utmost candor, fidelity and honesty in handling all of her affairs and to observe the highest and strictest form of integrity pertaining to Miss Ballard; and to refrain from abusing such confidence and fiduciary relationship and from obtaining any advantage to itself or for the benefit of others at the expense of Miss Ballard.

123. During the terms of said agreement Defendant International, on diverse occasions and continually up to and including the date of this complaint, intentionally, maliciously and subversively failed to treat Miss Ballard’s career in the same manner consistent with Defendant Diana Ross’ career; Defendant International failed to promote and use its best efforts in furtherance of Miss Ballard’s career as it did with Defendant Diana Ross’ career.

124. . . . Defendant International wrongfully breached their fiduciary duties in representing Defendant Diana Ross to the detriment and harm of Miss Ballard; and in representing its own interests contrary to the best interests of Miss Ballard.

125. Defendant International was under obligation pursuant to said agreement to use its best efforts to promote Miss Ballard’s career and to obtain personal engagements for her.

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126. Defendant International, in breaching its obligations as Miss Ballard’s exclusive business manager and personal representative, refused, failed and neglected to obtain personal engagements for Miss Ballard to exploit her talents.

127. Pursuant to said agreement, Defendant International was obliged to use its best efforts to advise Miss Ballard in connection with all phases of her career and to counsel her in connection with the selection of engagements, public relations, financial affairs and in the negotiation of all agreements affecting Miss Ballard’s career.

128. . . . On diverse occasions, from August 10, 1964 up to and including the time of filing of this complaint, Defendant International failed to use its best efforts in negotiating agreements with the public on behalf of Miss Ballard; Defendant did, in fact, make agreements with third parties as agent for Miss Ballard for its own benefit and self-enrichment.

129. . . . On diverse occasions, from August 10, 1964 up to and including the time and filing of this complaint, Defendant International failed to properly and adequately and honestly advise, direct and guide Miss Ballard’s career, financial affairs and business interests in a reasonable and prudent manner; Defendant International subversively, maliciously, fraudulently and without justification rendered imprudent and purposeful misguidance to Miss Ballard as it related to her professional career, financial affairs and business interests.

130. . . . on diverse occasions, from August 10, 1964 on to and including the time of filing of this complaint, Defendant International rendered Miss Ballard harmful advice and counsel regarding her professional career not for her benefit but for the benefit of Defendant International, of the corporate Defendant Motown and Defendant Diana Ross.

131. . . . Defendant International rendered false and fraudulent accounting understating monies payable to Miss Ballard on personal engagements where Miss Ballard performed as an artist.

132. Defendant International had the obligation to act as trustee of Miss Ballard’s funds which she had earned and was entitled to earn from personal engagements; on diverse occasions Defendant International misrepresented to Miss Ballard the extent and amounts of monies that Defendant International was holding as trustee. . . .

134. Defendant International’s relationship with Defendant Motown conflicted with the expressed obligations that Defendant International owed to Miss Ballard; Defendant International operated in the self-interest of itself and Defendant Motown to the detriment of Miss Ballard during all of the aforementioned times obtaining large and vast sums of monies for its own economic interest and for 197

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c Defendant Motown in direct violation of the many and various fiduciary obligations owing to Miss Ballard. . . .

165. . . . Defendants International, Berry Gordy, Jr., and Diana Ross . . . falsely and fraudulently represented and stated to Miss Ballard’s attorney, for the purpose of inducing Miss Ballard to execute said purported releases, that: a) Defendant International had accounted to her for all sums due or to become due to her as an artist on accounts of personal appearances from the beginning of the term of the original management agreement and all subsequent agreements to the date of the purported release agreement, except in the sum of $20,195.06;

b) That all items of income and items of expense and various items of every other description were correct in every respect and that she had received complete and accurate accounts of royalties and savings pursuant to said management agreement;

c) That it was in the best interest of Miss Ballard to waive the right to receive any sums as a co-owner of the name “The Supremes”. . . .

166. At the said time that Defendant International offered and agreed to pay Miss Ballard a total of $20,195.06 for her various rights and assets . . . Defendant International knew that she was entitled to vast sums of monies and earnings far in excess of said offered sum; however, Defendant International, Defendant Berry Gordy, Jr. and Defendant Michael Roshkind, Defendant Ralph Seltzer, Defendant Diana Ross, their servants and agents, purposefully concealed these facts from Miss Ballard, knowing full well Miss Ballard and her attorney did not know the extent of the value of her various rights and would rely upon their representations.

167. . . . At the time that Defendants, their servants and agents, made said false and fraudulent misrepresentations, the value of Miss Ballard’s various rights and assets pursuant to the various management contracts . . . was in excess of One Million Dollars.

168. At the time that Defendants Motown, Gordy, Seltzer, Roshkind, their servants and agents, represented to Miss Ballard’s attorney that all of her various rights pursuant to the . . . recording agreements was only worth $134,804.94, Defendants had full knowledge of the fact that the sum offered by them to Miss Ballard was grossly inadequate as it related to the vast amount of monies that she was entitled to receive. Defendants also knew that Miss Ballard and her attorney would rely upon their representations.

169. . . . At the time that Defendants, their servants and agents, made said false and fraudulent misrepresentations, the value of Miss Ballard’s various rights and 198

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assets pursuant to the various recording contracts . . . was in excess of One Million Dollars.

170. Defendants Motown, Berry Gordy, Jr., Roshkind, Seltzer, their servants and agents, fraudulently and falsely concealed from Miss Ballard and her attorney the fact that she had never been paid or received any monies whatsoever from the sale of cartridges and other tapes.

174. . . . Defendants fraudulently, maliciously and subversively concealed from Miss Ballard and her attorney the true nature and extent of the monetary value and goodwill of the name “The Supremes.”

175. The said Defendants, their servants and agents, did not offer nor did they ever pay Miss Ballard any monies or compensation for her co-ownership in the trade and business named The Supremes; and these acts and/or omissions, on the part of the Defendants herein, were done maliciously, subversively and fraudulently and in violation of all of their various . . . fiduciary duties and obligations.

176. The purported general release agreement . . . did not give Miss Ballard any . . .

monies regarding her relinquishing and waiving all rights that she had to use the name “The Supremes.” . . .

178. On or about February 22, 1968, Harold Noveck and David G. Hertzberg, attorneys for Defendants Motown, International, Berry Gordy, Jr. and Diana Ross negligently mailed three checks to Attorney Leonard A. Baun instead of to Miss Ballard, purportedly being sums of monies that the Defendants were to pay pursuant to said general release agreement. . . .

179. As a result of Defendants negligently giving said checks to Attorney Leonard A. Baun instead of to Miss Ballard, Miss Ballard never actually received the said checks; and Leonard A. Baun subsequently converted various of the said sums to his own use to the detriment of Miss Ballard.

180. The said checks that were to be payable to Miss Ballard as follows: a) Supremes Vocal Group $20,195.06

b) Diana Ross and the Supremes $5,000

c) Motown Record Corporation $134,804.94 . . .

202. The acts of misconduct on the part of all of the Defendants . . . , their servants and agents, caused Miss Ballard extreme emotional trauma, resulting in her experiencing severe psychological stress, causing her to experience deep mental anguish, depressing states of anxiety and emotional and mental distress. As a further result of all of the Defendants’ conspiracies and various intentional acts of misconduct directed at Miss Ballard, she had undergone severe and painful personality changes. Her personality has changed from a very congenial nature to one that causes her at different and various periods of time to be extremely 199

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c nervous, highly irritable at the slightest and imaginary provocation. Miss Ballard has undergone changes in her personality from one of an outgoing, pleasant personality to one where during various periods of time she lapses into extreme states of withdrawal from society unto herself. At various periods of time, Miss Ballard has experienced distressful and abnormal amounts of fear and apprehension regarding people, causing her to manifest, at different times, para-noiac tendencies; all of these experiences, changes and ill-effects upon Miss Ballard’s personal, mental, psychic, emotional stability and personality and well-being are the direct result of all the Defendants’ intentional and malicious acts of misconduct . . . and these injuries and damages to Miss Ballard are past, present and future. . . .

207. The trade name “The Supremes” was a worthless partnership asset at the beginning. From 1961 to 1968 the name “The Supremes” gained phenomenal commercial value and goodwill as the result of the joint effort of Ross-Wilson-Ballard.