Man seeks nearly $150,000 for breach of contract on sale of business

GRETNA – A Jefferson Parish man is suing a business over a contract in which he sold his portion of a business in exchange for a yearly salary and deferred compensation which he claims was not provided to him.

Charles E. Murphy filed suit against CEM Supply and Robert L. Carey Jr. in the 24th Judicial District Court on Jan. 16.

Murphy claims he sold a 50 percent share of CEM to Carey for $500,000 in September 2000 on the condition that Carey agreed to pay him a salary of $50,000 for a minimum of 10 years. The plaintiff alleges that $100,000 was to be paid up front with $400,000 to be paid in monthly installments.

Murphy asserts Carey and CEM made monthly payments, per the contract, from January 2005 to December 2010, but Carey said the company would no longer be able to make the payments due to the poor state of the economy.

The plaintiff claims after he was told the monthly payments would no longer be made, he heard from a third party that Carey was selling CEM to another company, Sunshine Metals, without disclosing the CEM’s obligation to Murphy to its purchaser.

Murphy asserts that Carey “bled dry” CEM of all of its assets before selling it and that after the company’s sale CEM and Carey made late monthly payments and then failed to make payments altogether for a number of months up until January 2013 despite letters of demand provided by Murphy. The plaintiff claims he is still owed $146,499.

The defendant is accused of breach of contract.

An unspecified amount in damages is sought for $146,499.36 owed, legal interest, attorney’s fees, court costs and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the plaintiff.

Murphy is represented by attorney Jeffrey W. Bennett of Harahan..

The case has been assigned to Division N Judge Carolyn W. Gill-Jefferson.

Case no. 722-952