Richard Garriott Files Lawsuit Against NCsoft
If you’d been reading the news and the official messages coming out of NCsoft and Richard Garriott’s camps at the end of his employment there, then you would believed that when Richard Garriott left the company the parting was sweet, sweet sorrow with hugs and kisses all around. But just under the surface there were a number of problems if you believe Richard Garriott’s recollection - now part of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. That recollection of the events leading up to and shortly after he left the company to “peruse other interest” are now in the public record courtesy of a lawsuit filed by the creator of ultima, Ultima Online and Tabula Rasa that alleges fraud and misrepresentation on the part of NCsoft.
The lawsuit alleges that NCsoft deliberately represented that Richard Garriott had left the company, when he had in fact be fired. This is the crux of his lawsuit because if he were to leave of his own free will it would give him a 90 day window to sell the NCsoft holdings he obtained when the company bought his game studio in . If he had been “let go” officially Garriott would have had a ten year window in which to sell those shares. Instead he was forced to sell his holdings in what he alleges was the worst time in history to sell.” The result was a tax liability incurred and a reduced return for his shares. Garriott is seeking some $27, 000,000 in damages from NCsoft. Garriott’s lawsuit alleges that NCsoft engaged in a breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.
