Daniel Herer, the son of cannabis activist Jack Herer, is being sued by a former business partner who says Herer “repeatedly reneged on agreements,” according to a complaint filed in Nevada state court. Herer, in his own filing, denied the charges in the lawsuit, and argues that the plaintiff, listed as Herer Brands Inc, is infringing on intellectual property it doesn’t own.
Herer Brands was co-founded by Daniel Herer and Dennis D’Alessio in 2002, the complaint says.
In the complaint, Herer Brands contends that Herer attempted to capitalize on his father’s name after his death in 2010 and began perusing investors; however, the lawsuit claims Herer embellished “his own supposed business skills.”
“Unfortunately, due to and as a result of his misrepresentations and a series of bad decisions, these ventures incurred millions of dollars in debt, and the deals stalled or failed. Daniel, rather than deal with his problems directly and forthrightly, repeatedly reneged on agreements and continued to seek new investors and/or partners to payoff and replace the old ones, not unlike an ongoing Ponzi scheme.” — Herer Brands vs. Daniel Herer
According to the lawsuit, HBI Investor Group in July performed a due diligence check on Herer, who had signed a deal with the company to become its chief business development officer. During the 90-day due diligence period, HBI “determined that there were issues with the Jack Herer Assets that negatively impacted their value, and that the venture’s business prospects were not as strong as Daniel had represented” and, as a result, the parties “negotiated and agreed to adjustments in the HBI Investor Group’s investment and equity share in the venture,” according to the lawsuit.
Herer denies all of HBI’s allegations outlined in the lawsuit, and in his counterclaim contends that D’Alessio is improperly using the Herer name and trademarks and “never paid the $1,500,000 base capital investment, so the intellectual property was never transferred out of Herer Media & Publishing, Inc.”
HBI is seeking compensatory damages and an injunction to prevent Herer from competing against HBI or disparaging the firm. Herer is also seeking compensatory damages.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Nevada.
WeedWeek first reported on the lawsuit.
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