DOVER (AP) – A Delaware judge has ordered the co-founder of a New York-based translation company to pay his business partner and former fiancee $7.1 million in fees and expenses as sanctions for “deplorable behavior” in a contentious lawsuit resulting in the company’s court-ordered sale.
The judge on Friday ordered Philip Shawe, co-founder of TransPerfect Global Inc., to pay the money to Elizabeth Elting within 10 business days.
In a sanctions ruling last month, Chancellor Andre Bouchard declared that Shawe had intentionally sought to destroy information, failed to safeguard evidence, and repeatedly lied under oath.
Last year, Bouchard granted Elting’s request to appoint a custodian to oversee the sale of TransPerfect, noting that despite its profitability, management had devolved into irretrievable deadlocks and “complete dysfunction” between Shawe and Elting, the only two directors.
Shawe said he would be appealing the ruling, which he said has “no basis in reality.”
“TransPerfect has never been either dysfunctional nor faced with irreparable harm as Bouchard ruled,” he said, “It has only continued to grow and outperform its competition.”
The high-profile case drew attention in April when former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani weighed in and took issue with the sale of the company.