Legal Trouble

Microsoft Fat Cat v. Trotter

Is this a case of no good deed going unpunished? Is it a clash of the titans of ego? Hard to say. In 2000, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation auctioned off dinner for 16 prepared by Charlie Trotter in your home— only one of many times that Trotter, known for his charitable events of this sort, has given away such a prize to benefit a charity. A then-Microsoft senior VP named David Vaskevitch paid $53,000 for the prize and started arranging the meal with Trotter— but then 9/11 happened and it was put on hold. Then, for reasons unknown, discussions broke down and Vaskevitch has basically spent the last decade stewing about it, apparently. In fact, he claims he’s never been able to reach Trotter since (and had to hire a private investigator to book reservations at his restaurant to serve him papers), and in the end, when Trotter failed to respond to the suit, the judge ruled for Vaskevitch and ordered Trotter to pay $63,000 to cover the prize and fees. Trotter has mostly refused comment but his spokeswoman said that part of the deal that Vaskevitch reneged on was private air travel for Trotter’s team— which, a quick check of a jet-sharing website suggests, would have upped the cost to Vaskevitch by 50% to 100% or more. [Chicago Business]

Microsoft Fat Cat v. Trotter