This one’s a toss up. It’s either it’s a child crying over spilled milk or it’s a kid standing up to a towel-snapping bully. Boston-based Modernista is suing Reebok’s Rockport claiming the footwear company owes the agency $500,000 for work it did during 2007 contract negotiations and, inclusively, a $225,000 early termination fee Modernista imposed when Rockport suddenly dumped Modernista and hired Hill Holiday.
Modernista claims it continued to work in good faith while 2007 contracts talks were underway during which the agency claims Rockport had nothing but kind words for the work. The sudden firing on February 28 took the agency by surprise. Modernista claims Rockport strung the agency along as it searched for a new agency and had no intention of maintaining its relationship with Modernista.
Modernista lawyer Evans Huber of Frieze Cramer LLP told (paid sub. req.) the Boston Business Journal, “Of course money is always a motivation in commercial litigation, but as we allege in this lawsuit, this wasn’t simply a case of, ‘We contend that they owe us money, and they deny it.’ The parties had an ongoing relationship and there was a real disconnect between the work that Modernista was doing for Rockport and the message they were getting from Rockport, which was ‘we love you,’ followed by the abrupt termination of the relationship by Rockport. Modernista has reason to believe that the disconnect reflects the fact that Modernista was intentionally misled by Rockport.”
Discuss amongst yourselves.
