Dwyane Wade slapped with another lawsuit
Tags: Dwyane Wade, lawsuit, Mark Rodberg, Miami Heat
| Wednesday 7 January 2009 11:02 am
Miami Heat hoopster Dwyane Wade’s trying to take care of hangers-on and family.
And that could get him in trouble.
The superstar has just been slapped with another lawsuit over his refusal to promote a West Palm-owned sports-grill chain called D Wade’s Place.
The new filing claims Wade reneged on a contract to promote the eateries when the owners, including local restaurant developer Mark Rodberg, rebuffed Wade’s request to change their original contract.
One change was to increase Wade’s interest in the business to 30 percent, instead of 10. Another was for the company to guarantee a salary for Wade’s dad, Dwyane Sr., and one of Wade’s friends from the ole’ Chicago ’hood, Marcus Andrews.
According to the business interference suit, Wade allegedly requested that Rodberg hire Andrews at $75,000-a-year per restaurant. More than 30 joints were being planned nationally.
Wade Sr. was to receive $50,000 a year.
Olympic hero Wade and Andrews are partners in the firm that manages Wade’s commercial interests, Wade Global Entertainment.
The attorney for D Wade’s Place didn’t return calls. But a source familiar with the case said: “They actually tried to have Rodberg sign a new contract that was unacceptable. Dwyane tried to have us pay his dad to do nothing.”
And if Rodberg didn’t renegotiate? According to the lawsuit, Andrews told Rodberg: “You can either have a happy Dwyane, or an unhappy Dwyane!”
Andrews defended the new deal, telling Page2Live that the jobs he and Wade’s dad were to get were far from being no-show gigs.
“We would’ve helped with anything they wanted,” Andrews said Wednesday. “I was going to be Dwyane’s eyes and ears in the restaurants. They were real jobs. Plus, they (Rodberg) initiated everything and now they turn it around.
“They’re trying to make Dwyane look like the bad guy who’s shaking them down. That’s not the truth.”
Rodberg filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Wade in July after the chain’s first restaurants in Boca and Fort Lauderdale shut down within weeks of opening. That action alleges the baller never showed up in Boca and just once in Lauderdale. Rodberg is said to want $25 million.
A third place opened in September in Aventura, but Andrews had workers take down the marquee.
Wade’s defense is that Rodberg’s crew wasn’t running the restaurants to his specs.
To read the lawsuit, click here.
Shake Down? Hell yes…….
Look like Dwyane was doing the shake down. He might be trying to make extra bucks for last years bad season
Dwyane is the man it is looking like a bad man. He even hangs on to his old HOOD RATS from the PAST. I hope he doesn’t hurt the HEAT.
I see that this will never end. D had a bad time last year and this year looks to be bad for his life. Thank God he is at least playing good I like that he still strong with his bud even is he seems to be a HOOD RAT D hang in there it cant get more bad
Dwyane is doing great on the court but it looks as if his life is falling apart. Looks as if Dwayne needs to take a look at who he hangs with and keep his head on the Basketball game. Basketball seems to be all he knows how to stay out of trouble with.
I have been reading these comments and it shows me that this is the way Pro Sports is just going to be. The Pros want the money and the Face time like the Movie Stars. But seem to be lacking the morals and education; when you get a closer look at behind the scenes of their life it is a messed up as the punk kid on the street corner they probably grew up on.
I looked at the Lawsuit and it makes me wonder what the old friends have on Dwyane. Dwyane seems to be doing a lot to get them paid for not working. As much as Dwyane makes he could pay these people with pocket change. I guess this may go all the way back to the Chicago mind set with corruption as the normal way of doing things. I guess Dwyane like playing on the Basketball Court it looks like he will get as much time in a legal courtroom. I guess at the worst side of this Dwyane could end up getting his high game score as high as 100 points per game, that is a ball player on Prison yard Basketball Court. This may even help Dwyane make more money, look how well Martha Stewart is doing after a little time. People with Dwyane money don’t do hard time with to lower class people he hangs with. That makes me wonder as well, how well his so called friends will fair in the Court and Prison system without Dwayne’s money.
[...] after its first two restaurants, in Boca and Fort Lauderdale, closed within weeks of opening. Two lawsuits have been filed in Miami-Dade against Wade and Marcus and their company. Wade is accused of not [...]