Marketing Case

Justin Kelly

August 26, 2013

Brief

Detroit Lions, Inc. v. Argovitz, 580 F. Supp. 542 - Dist. Court, ED Michigan 1984

1.) What is the business problem?

The business problem is that simply Argovitz is breaking his fiduciary duties. Sims has signed contracts with two teams by December 16, 1983 and wants to settle what had happened and accusing Argovitz of breaking his fiduciary duties. Argovitz is involved with the Gamblers and shouldn’t be representing Sims.

2.) What is the remedy being sought?

The remedy being sought is whether the contract between the Gamblers and Sims is valid or not. They are trying to sort out whether Sims will be playing as a Gambler or as a Lion. They also are trying to figure out what Argovitz should be penalized for since he did break his fiduciary duties.

3.) How did the case get here?

The case got here by “Billy R. Simms filed a complaint in the Oakland County Circuit Court seeking a judicial determination that the July 1, 1983 ontract between Sims and the Houston Gamblers, Inc. (Gamblers) is invalid because the defendant Jerry Argovitz (Argovitz) breached his fiduciary duty…”

4.) What are the facts?

Sims did not know the extent of Argovitz’s involvement in the Gamblers. Bill Sims signed a contract with the Gamblers on July 1, 1983, and signed a second contract with the Detroit Lions on December 16, 1983. Argovitz was the president of the Gamblers’ Corporation at an annual salary of $275,000 and 5 percent the yearly cash flow. Sims believed that the Lions organization was not negotiating in good faith, and that they weren’t really interested in his services. “Two expert witnesses testified that an agent should telephone a team that he has been negotiating with once he has an offer in hand.”

5.) What is the Law?

The law says that Argovitz cannot deal with Sims by being his agent at the same time that he is involved with a team, which was the Gamblers. Fiduciary...