Patrick Slavin, who resigned from the Phoenix-based realty firm in March 2002, also alleges in his Maricopa County Superior Court lawsuit that his former employer took "dominion and control" of a software program he developed that enabled the company to obtain Internet access to multifamily transactions.
Neither Slavin's attorney, Ray Harris, nor officials from Hendricks & Partners would comment on the lawsuit.
According to court papers, Slavin was offered a partnership interest in the company along with a portion of its income and equity value in 1994 when owner Don Hendricks first discussed the formation of a multifamily real estate brokerage firm with him. In 1995, however, contrary to their initial agreement, Slavin alleges he was induced to contribute half of his 60% sales commissions on certain listings as "equity investments" in the firm in exchange for a greater partnership interest. Slavin claims he contributed more than $382,000 in "equity investments" over a two-year period as part of that deal.
But the promised partnership never materialized, according to Slavin's lawsuit. "Defendant Hendricks repeatedly promised that a written agreement would be completed 'next week' or 'next month' and that Hendricks would document plaintiff's interest in the firm," the lawsuit states.
Slavin said Hendricks also promised to make him "president" of Institutional Advisory Services with a partnership worth $5 million. Again, that agreement never materialized, the lawsuit states.
Even as he was about to resign from the firm, Slavin claims Hendricks promised to "settle up" on the partnership deal by proposing a plan of structured payments to be funded from brokerage fees generated by future business from AIMCO, where Slavin now works in the Denver office. Slavin rejected that proposal.
The lawsuit charges the firm with fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment and breach of contract and asks the court to dissolve or restructure the company and award Slavin more than $300,000 in damages along with his share of both profits and royalty fees for the software program he developed. In addition to Hendricks & Partners, the complaint also names owner Donald B Hendricks, his wife Lisanne Hendricks, and broker Art Wadlund and his wife, Jan Wadlund.
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