The Co-Founder and former CEO of Telltale Games, Kevin Bruner, is reportedly suing the studio, citing “financial damages.”
The Marin Independent Journal reports that Bruner, who allegedly forfeited his position as CEO last year, is taking legal action against Telltale Games for failing to provide informational support as he got ready to sell his holdings in company stock, violating Bruner’s contractual agreement.
In the details of the lawsuit, Bruner claims that as soon as he hired an investment banker to help sell his assets with Telltale, the studio cut off all lines of communication with him. In addition to this, it is reported that he was forced off of the board of directors. “The net effect of Bruner’s alleged removal from the board of directors was that Bruner was deprived of relevant insight into the management and financial state of Telltale and the value of its shares,” the lawsuit states.
Other specifics in the suit state that after Lionsgate invested in the company back in 2015, Bruner began to be pushed out of his position as Telltale’s board of directors started campaigning for a new CEO along with other internal changes. He was fired two years later, even though initial reports said that he stepped down on his own volition.
Telltale unequivocally denied these accusations, alleging that the lawsuit is “meritless” and that Bruner is attempting to get “revenge on a company already under financial strain.”
Bruner’s legal team responded that Telltale’s comments were “baseless and careless accusations of petty revenge.”
Judge Roy Chernus has denied Telltale Games’ attempt to get the lawsuit dropped outright, and the investigation will continue. A case management conference will take place on July 17th.
Back in September, Noah Hawley of Zynga and Red Robot Labs took over Bruner’s old position as CEO, and it was announced that Telltale would be laying off ninety employees in the following months.
In the past few weeks, Telltale Games announced a partnership with Netflix to develop a new game based on the hit series Stranger Things, and posted a release date for the final season of The Walking Dead.
To keep up with further developments in this story as well as other nerdy news, stay tuned to The Nerd Stash.
