Via ThePRP –
Following a hearing in court today, January 03rd, former Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn‘s lawsuit against his former bandmates Corey Taylor and M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan looks set to proceed. A hearing in the Supreme Court of New York saw judge Melissa Anne Crane strongly indicate that Fehn‘s suit would continue.
Fehn filed suit against Taylor and Crahan as well as the band’s business manager Rob Shore and his music business management company Rob Shore & Associates in early 2019. Fehn also named several Slipknot-related business entities in his suit.
He alleged in his suit that the aforementioned parties had set up several businesses related to the Slipknot trademarks without his knowledge and that they were essentially enriching themselves outside of an alleged partnership established between the band’s original nine members early on in their career to fairly distribute the profits.
Fehn, who was ousted from the band shortly after filing suit, claimed to have only discovered the existence of the business entities during negotiations for what would become their latest album, “We Are Not Your Kind“. For his part he is seeking a past accounting of the band’s inner workings during his time with them to establish potential damages.
Fehn‘s individual claim against Shore was dismissed in late November, though his claim against Shore‘s aforementioned company was given the go-ahead. Taylor and Crahan themselves sought to have the case dismissed on a personal jurisdictional dispute, arguing that Fehn‘s decision to file the suit in NY would invalidate it, claiming they had no established business interests of their own in that state.
They also sought to have his claims against the several Slipknot-related businesses entities (Slipknot Incorporated, Knot Merch LLC, SK Productions, LLC, SK Touring, Inc. and Knot Touring LLC) dismissed, claiming that Fehn had failed to state a cause of action for them to be included.
MetalSucks have filed a report on today’s events, revealing that the judge indicated that while no distinct ruling was given down, she appeared to have sided with Fehn‘s camp in that the NY venue would be appropriate given it is the home state of Rob Shore & Associates, who handled the majority of the band’s business interests.
She was more concise on the other motion, denied the dismissal of the claims against the band’s various business-related entities. The band’s camp had argued that Fehn‘s suit failed to articulate any wrongdoing by said entities nor establish any conduct by them or contract with them. She indicated that she felt that those entities would fall under the umbrella of the alleged general partnership which Fehn claims was established.
MetalSucks have word from the defense and prosecution on the case, which currently has no follow-up hearing date scheduled. A compliance conference date of June 18th does currently stand, however.
