A Man Was Awarded $1 Million From His Ex-Employer Thanks To An Equity Agreement That Was Written On A Napkin While Drinking
(Source)- A million-dollar settlement struck over the weekend in a Dallas County lawsuit would have been unremarkable if not for the cocktail napkin. Jonathan Kolniak sued his former employer in March 2017 over a claim he was owed more than $9 million for his equity stake in his old employer. The paperwork for that agreement between Kolniak and ex-boss James Ballengee was scribbled out on a cocktail napkin from the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Kolniak alleged the agreement on the napkin gave him 2 percent equity ownership in Addison-based Bridger Logistics, a crude oil logistics company. Attorney Brian N. Hail said his client was supposed to help Ballengee build the company in preparation for its eventual sale. That happened in 2015 when propane powerhouse Ferrellgas bought Bridger Logistics for $820 million. After debt was backed out, Kolniak’s share should have been $9.35 million, according to the lawsuit.
In a court filing, Ballengee said the napkin agreement was “vague and incomplete” and the result of a “night of drunkenness.” The court filing also said the 11-word agreement didn’t specify the company in which Kolniak would get equity. Ballengee claimed the “2% of option” was to a different company, Ballengee Interests, according to a court filing. Kolniak’s salary ($100,000), benefits and commission were also spelled on the napkin. After Kolniak went to work for Ballengee, the two settled on a buyout of Kolniak’s equity. He eventually agreed to accept $2 million and had already received $400,000 when their dealings fell apart, according to his lawyer.
Since that equity buyout was never completed, Kolniak argued that he still had his 2 percent when Bridger Logistics was sld. Hail said the defendants took advantage of his client. But he said Kolniak is still satisfied with the outcome, even though it was a $1 million napkin rather than a $9 million one.
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Blogger’s rendition of Jonathan Kolniak after the judge’s ruling:
All the cube monkeys around the world should take note of this case and remember it for the rest of their lives. This is how you get PAID for all the blood, sweat, and tears you put into a company. Fuck coming in early, leaving late, and working on weekends. All that gets you is your boss expecting you to come in early, leave late, and work on weekends while keeping all that sweet equity cash for themselves. The secret to wetting the beak is to literally wet your beak at the work happy hour you were planning on skipping, getting your boss’s boss drunk, and having him sloppily scribble down his name on a napkin giving you 1% of a company while you laugh it up over some seasonal craft beer drafts and overpriced sliders. It apparently doesn’t even have to be the company you technically work for. Just throw your name, some of your work stats, and your company’s Big Swinging Dick (or Lady Dick), and you too can cash in on your share of the American dream. The fact that nobody in this company was ready to pull a Mac from Always Sunny with this guy’s only piece of evidence is mind-bottling* and proof they deserved to lose the case.
The only bummer of this story is that it came came out today instead of last week when we held a very rare Barstool happy hour.
If this story had been published last week, I could have tried to weasel my way into the Barstool Equity Club. To be honest, that ship has probably sailed for me since I don’t have the tenure or talent of the guys that built this blog to what it is today and I definitely don’t have the talent to become a member of that club now. But I definitely think I have the ability to load up Davey Pageviews with a few chardonnays and then ask him to sign a napkin because he was my favorite Little League superstar. Dave would of course oblige because he’s Dave and loves when people bring up his athletic glory days. My smile and happy-go-lucky demeanor would disarm any reservations he may have for an okey doke being pulled. Afterwards I could simply fill out my own terms for the contract and wait for Dave to finally cash the rest of his Barstool chips in. Once he did, I could just show him my napkin and wait for the direct deposit to hit. Knowing Dave, he probably wouldn’t even bring this to court because he would respect the move while also realizing that the most important legal note in Barstool Sports history was written on a napkin as well.
Fuck, I really wish this story was written a couple weeks earlier.
*OG Stoolie test*