Court orders Morningstar to respond to Rich’s claim
The long standing dispute betweenMorningstarand previous managing director Graham Rich has taken another step towards conclusion with Morningstar Inc and its directors on the board of Morningstar Australia receiving court orders to file their defence by September 20.
The court action is the result of Rich filing his statement of claim with the Supreme Court in April this year. Rich outlined his claims toMoney Managementin early August where he highlighted four main allegations against the research house, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and oppression, failure to meet capital raising obligations as well as unfair dismissal.
Last Friday, the court ordered that Morningstar serve its defence by no later than September 20 after Rich’s lawyers argued that the five months since Rich served his statement of claim was sufficient time for Morningstar to prepare a defence.
Rich says he is happy with the court’s decision given that it has been 10 months since his dismissal from the research house. He says he feels the only way he can conclude the matter is by pursuing it through the courts.
Rich was dismissed as managing director of Morningstar Australia in November 2001 after having worked with Morningstar since 1999 when that group purchased Rich’s own research company, FPG Research, which he established 18 years beforehand.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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