Lawsuit against the YES Network dismissed

As River Ave Blues reports, Judge Richard Sullivan of the Southern District of New York dismissed a lawsuit by Bob Gutkowski, the former head of MSG and "Yankee confidant," against George Steinbrenner III. Gutkowski had alleged that he came up with the idea for a Yankees regional sports network in 1998, four years before the YES Network actually launched. Gutkowski also alleged that Steinbrenner had orally promised him an executive position at YES, only to later renege on the agreement.

Judge Sullivan granted the plaintiff's motion to dismiss the lawsuit for a few reasons. One reason was that the alleged oral agreement between the two men is rendered unenforceable by New York's statute of frauds, which states that says certain agreements must be in writing. Another reason is that Gutkowski's claim for fraudulent inducement was not an independent cause of action from his claim for breach of contract, so the fraudulent inducement claim must be dismissed. And finally....saving the biggest for last....New York's six-year statute of limitations precludes all of the plaintiff's claims.

//Gutkowski says "oops," slaps self in forehead//

In any case, the merits of the lawsuit just seemed fishy to me. It's almost as if Gutkowski (obviously) forgot about the statute of limitations, and just decided to wait until Steinbrenner was completely senile in order to file a suit alleging that Steinbrenner made only an oral promise to give Gutkowski an executive position. How convenient for Gutkowski that Steinbrenner didn't put such an important promise in writing. How convenient for Gutkowski that Steinbrenner cannot dispute the oral agreement -- Steinbrenner cannot remember by dinnertime what he had for breakfast, let alone recall a promise he made 12 years ago.

I guess what I'm saying is, this lawsuit was doomed to fail. Sorry, Bob. Major hat tip to River Ave. Blues for the story.