Jaffe sues Par over stock options
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in state Supreme Court in New York, Jaffe claims Paramount hindered his exercising of Paramount stock options.
At issue is 466,668 options to buy Paramount stock at $ 42.125. Jaffe says if he had been able to exercise the options before March 1, he could have resold the stock at prices around $ 107 cash as part of the first phase of the Viacom acquisition.
In the second phase, Viacom paid for the balance of Paramount with Viacom stock, which is currently valued at $ 43.
Jaffe claims he was told by Martin Davis, Paramount's former CEO, of his termination on Feb. 28. Jaffe's attempts to exercise his stock options were blocked, he maintains.
Viacom says Jaffe was not fired until April 6, when it sent a letter to him. It says he is asking for preferential treatment.
"We believe his claims are without merit andwe are confident that we will prevail," Viacom said.
