Tellez v. OTG Interactive, LLC
- Vratil
- 1:15-cv-08984
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tellez v. OTG Interactive, Judge Vratil ruled that the contract-trial judgment would not include Blatstein personally.
The ruling affected Omar Tellez, the OTG entities named in the requested judgment, and Rick Blatstein. It prevented judgment from being entered against Blatstein personally.
What happened
Omar Tellez sued OTG Interactive, LLC and others after his employment as the company’s president ended. A jury found in Tellez’s favor on his breach-of-contract claim based on his employment agreement.
Tellez asked the court to enter judgment against several OTG entities and Rick Blatstein. The defendants argued that Blatstein should not be included. At trial, the lawyers had agreed that a verdict against OTG Interactive would apply to the OTG entities, but no question about Blatstein’s personal liability was presented to the jury.
The court ruled that judgment would not be entered against Blatstein because he was not one of the OTG entities and Tellez had abandoned claims seeking Blatstein’s personal liability. Judge Kathryn H. Vratil issued the order.
The detailed version
- Tellez v. OTG Interactive, LLC · No. 1:15-cv-08984
- Vratil
- Nov. 27, 2019
Background
Omar Tellez brought claims concerning the termination of his employment as President of OTG Interactive, LLC. The only claim that went to trial was breach of contract based on Tellez’s Employment Agreement with OTG Interactive. On November 15, 2019, a jury returned a verdict for Tellez.
Tellez then sought a judgment against OTG Interactive, LLC, doing business as Flo Solutions, LLC; OTG Management, Inc.; Rick Blatstein, also known as Eric J. Blatstein; and OTG Management, LLC.
Dispute About the Judgment
The parties had agreed before and during the formal jury-instruction conference that the instructions would identify OTG Interactive as the sole defendant, but that any verdict and judgment for Tellez would be against all OTG entities listed in the case. When the court asked whether a verdict against OTG Interactive would bind the other defendants, defense counsel answered yes, and Tellez’s counsel confirmed that a verdict for Tellez would be against all OTG entities listed in the caption.
The court also noted that Tellez presented no evidence supporting a verdict against Blatstein personally. No party asked the jury to decide Blatstein’s personal liability, and Blatstein was not one of the OTG entities listed in the complaint. Based on those circumstances, the court found that Tellez had abandoned claims seeking Blatstein’s personal liability.
Ruling
The court ruled that judgment would not be entered against Blatstein. The opinion states that the parties’ agreement concerned the OTG entities and did not support imposing personal liability on Blatstein. Judge Kathryn H. Vratil ordered this result on November 27, 2019.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.