Marlin and Nemechek sue Ginn Racing-UPDATED 2
Quote selected text Published September 11th, 2007 in NASCAR News
UPDATE 2:
Bobby Ginn said Tuesday he’s surprised by a lawsuit that claims he hasn’t honored the contracts for Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek and two crew chiefs.
All four lost their jobs when Ginn Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in late July. The four filed separate lawsuits against both teams last week in Cabarrus County, claiming they are owed their salaries.
The suits don’t specify what the parties are seeking, but claim they have demanded payment, and the teams have either failed or refused to comply.
“Sterling and Joe’s contracts ran through the end of the year, and I have paid them through August — all of their winnings and salary, per the contract,” Ginn said. “And I intend to pay through the end of the year. I always have.”
Ginn said that crew chiefs Richard “Slugger” Labbe and Peter Sospenzo were given severance packages when they were let go, and said he’s honored it and payments are up to date.
“This totally surprised me, and it looks to me like they are trying to ask for something over and above and they are just not entitled to,” Ginn said.
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UPDATE:
Marlin began in 2006 with a base salary of $1.1 million, and that increased to $1.2 million for 2007. Nemechek started with MB2 in 2004 and received $900,000 for 2004, $1 million for 2005, $1.1 million for 2006 and $1.2 million for 2007. Both drivers got to keep 45% of their race winnings (Nemechek, who was 27th in points in 2006, had $4,099,914 million total in race winnings last year, while Marlin, 34th in points, had $3,248,034 million) and 33% of souvenir sales.
Their bonus schedules were $50,000 per win, $25,000 for a top-five, $10,000 for a top-10 and $5,000 per pole. Winning a Cup title was worth a $500,000 bonus, while second through fifth in the final standings were worth $250,000; sixth through 10th were $150,000; 11th through 15th were $100,000 and 16th through 20th were $50,000. Each received a $500 per race travel allowance, a seat on the team plane and a hotel room for each race. They also got a personal car.
They agreed to 50 hours of personal appearances for a sponsor plus two days for commercials or media events as well as unlimited track hospitality visits not to exceed 30 minutes in length. They were both responsible for their own insurance. There is a morals clause in each contract stating they “shall not associate with gamblers or other notorious characters; shall not use illegal drugs; and shall not consume alcoholic beverages except in moderation but in no event within eight hours prior to driving in a race or practice.”
As far as the crew chiefs, Labbe, hired as the crew chief for Marlin in August 2006, and Sospenzo, hired as crew chief for Nemechek in October 2006, were earning $450,000 annual salaries. Labbe was guaranteed another $50,000 if his bonus money didn’t reach that amount, while Sospenzo was guaranteed $25,000. Their bonuses were $20,000 for a win, $10,000 for second-fifth, $5,000 for sixth-10th, $2,500 for 11th-15th and $1,000 for a pole.
A season championship was worth $100,000, second-fifth ($75,000) and sixth-10th were $50,000 for Labbe and sixth-12th were $50,000 for Sospenzo. They also got a personal vehicle as well as reimbursement for motorhome expenses. They agreed to make 10 away-from-the-track appearances. They also signed confidentiality agreements related to technical data and car setups. They also agreed that if they left they company, they would not attempt to hire any crew members for a year.
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Crew chiefs Slugger Labbe and Peter Sospenzo also sue Ginn
Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek have sued Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. for alleged breaches of their contracts, which included a base salary of $1.2 million apiece.
The separate suits, filed Sept. 7 in Cabarrus County, N.C., do not specify how much they have been paid or what they exactly are owed.
Also suing Ginn and DEI are crew chiefs Richard “Slugger” Labbe and Peter Sospenzo.
Ginn and DEI merged prior to the Indianapolis race in July, and Marlin and Nemechek found themselves without a place in the organization. The points of the No. 14 of Marlin ended up moving to the No. 15 of DEI with Paul Menard as the driver, while the No. 13 Nemechek team was eliminated.
“Demand for payment has been made …, but [Ginn and DEI] have failed and/or refused to pay all or any part,” the complaints state.
- Marlin settles legal dispute with Ginn
- Marlin replaced by Regan Smith for the Brickyard, Nemechek could be out too
- Ginn looking for sponsorship
- All 4 court cases against Ginn dismissed
- Marlin & Nemechek Will Stay at MB2, Team to Expand
As much as i don’t like Front Row Joe…he’s a helluva driver and should get what he deserved from Ginn…..Good luck Joe with the case and I hope you find yourself a more stable ride in 08!!
I was the anonymous post earlier!!
Poor Sterling and Joe.
Earlier in the decade–Sterling is put to fault for Dale Sr’s death when in all actuallity, It simply WAS a racing incident! Whatever, not getting onto that subject–But to dump Sterling from Ganassi and then dump him from Ginn is horrible.
And poor front-row Joe! Hasn’t had a win since Kansas of ‘05, if I’m correct… He is a good driver and is pretty much over-shadowed by the ‘big guys’ of the series … Gordon, Jr, Stewart, etc.
Hope both of them get what they deserve from Ginn–ALONG with respect!!! They deserve PLENTY of that!!
ok both drivers are terrible..so who cares..there are plenty of driver out there who are alot better and get treated worse..but kudos to DEI for not waiting for GINN to get sued b4 they merged..now its coming out of their pocket seeing as those drivers were kicked out b4 the actual merger happened..idk..prob the reason they got kicked out but they still suck so who cares..
lol to the guy that says that they both suck…. How many drivers have won 2 straight Daytona 500s? And if i remember correctly Sterling was leading the points a couple years back until he had that crash that screwed up his back….
Also I am not a big fan of front row Joe…. but he is a good driver and deserves respect….. Id like to see you get out there and race along side all those guys… over 200 mph… youd prolly mess ur pants… lmao
They are suing to get the company wheelchairs they were using.
So both drivers are at the end of the career and are nowhere near top competitors anymore. We realize that. That doesn’t mean he should be able to cut them off at the knees and not compensate. I mean seriously, it’s not like he can’t afford it.
It would depend on how the contracts are written and how the merger affects the contracts.
Having enough money has nothing to do with how business decisions are made.
A deal is a deal. Those two gave 100% and filled all the contractual commitments and should receive what both parties signed their contract for. It is no fault of theirs that Ginn made bad decisions. He agreed to pay X amount for their services and signed a contract as such. I am sure if you (naysayers) were to be terminated from your jobs through no fault of your own, then you too would want your severance package and anything else that you could get!.. It is so funny that employers want you as an employee to be completely honest and dedicated and give 100% of your heart and soul to the success of the company, but when the shoe is on the other foot they don’t want to be fair or honest with you and treat you like yesterdays garbage. For all those that disagree then consider yourselves fortunate that you have never “been there (done that)”. If you have not (been there) it is most likely because you have lots of brown goo all over your nose(s) or are more of a mouse at work then you are on this site. You (and us) know who you are. As far as being all washed up and not having any talent goes, then when your time comes and you no longer have any “real value” I suppose we should take you out to the “tar pits, for hurling day” as well, I personally can’t wait to hurl some of you myself!
Pay them and shut up!!!
If i had sined a contract with them I would honor it. Would you have the same honor?
even though i’m not a Joe Nemecheck he put 01 Army team where it was and was contending for wins week in week out and then they gave it to Mark Martin and put Joe to a new team with no points and no sponsorship money so he was getting screwed over from the get go
THAT’S THE WAY ALL BIG BUSINESS ARE RAN,THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE JUST THE MONEY$$$$$$$$$$$
Thats the way it works because the little guy can’t compete in the courts against high priced scumbag lawyers. If you don’t believe it look at what happened to the retired autoworkers at GM. The courts allowed GM to back out of long standing contracts to the retired workers and their benifits. While at the same time the suits were awarded huge bonus’s. This not only happaned at GM but several other compnies accross this “great land”. i.e. GE, Puralator, US Steel just to name a few. It is time we took a stand and have a “sickout for a week”. Like that will happen, yea right. It will never happen and if it did the courts would side with big business like always.
Wow, Hell didnt they make enough to afford those expensive million dollar homes they live in, hello you have money, and if not you miss managed it, both were NEXTEL CUP teams with a fair fan base, should have thought about actually trying to compete in a race before complaining, i mean they show up to the race, but not during they are off on a sunday drive through my home town of orem, utah
A contract is a contract so Ginn will have to cough up the dough at some point.
Toss them both under the Buss I say. They are washed up has-beens and lets get rid of them now.
Why should Ginn or DEI pay them when they were both told that they would be let go if Ginn sold out.
If I were let go from a job I would not expect to get paid for work that I did not do yet.
This is the 1st time I have seen in writing what kind of a deal a driver had.
Talk about over paid, WOW
Yea, and just think, that’s the pay for has beens. Think what Gordon, Johnson, Busch, Stewart and the other Chase drivers make??????
I’d be glad to get about 10% of their money, and I would give you all that I make each year………As though that would ever happen. The Power Ball lottery don’t even pay that much…..jerry
I think that all of them should be paid what they deserve and if not then they should be given jobs with the company. It was wrong for Ginn Racing to just let them go without making some sort of an effort to actually place them into another team. I could see if the season had just started but the season was half over when they merged with DEI. Ginn should have finished the year out then merged with DEI during the off-season. All parties involved should get what they deserve because the drivers and crew cheifs all have families and other things that need the wages that they make to happen. Nascar should make a rule where if a company decides that they want to merge with someone else they should be required to not only pay the employees that are being released but the drivers.
These two drivers from yester-yeart had a base salary of 1.2 million and are now suing.
What does that mean….people race Nascar for the money!
These two hacks couldn’t get a job changing tires in another series.
LIKE TO SEE HOW THIS IS GOING TO GO… WELL GOOD LUCK TO MARLIN AND JOE.. GONNA NEED IT.
Anonymous you are showing everyone just how intelligent you are. We all respect your valuable opinion. You always put so much thought behind them.
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I think our resident genius is focused on something that is irrelevant. The $ salary amount in this suit means nothing as to the righteousness of it. It would not matter if it was $1.00 or $10 million, Ginn knew exactly what he was doing when he signed on the dotted line. I would also suspect he even felt he was getting the better part of the bargain. He owes them every cent of the base salary and that is all there is to it. I wonder how many of other sports heroes in stick and ball sports are “over paid” and washed-up according to the genius who knows all and has an opinion on everything.
Wow–some really “heartfelt” comments.
Why don’t those who dislike Sterling or Joe and think that they are “washed up” and should be “thrown under the bus” go post comments on the Jr issue.
Every driver deserves respect. Yes, they are doing something they love but that does not give ANYONE–including the fans–free-will to bad-mouth the drivers. They are putting their lives on the line week-in and week-out. Yes, they get big paychecks for it–but think of the amount of money they were making to race in the earlier days! BEFORE they hit the big series! PRACTICALLY NOTHING!! And I’m sure they were all working on their race-cars by themselves, using prize-money to fix repairs, upgrade equipment, etc.
Have some heart, people.
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Really pitbull? whatever that means. Does that mean you are a dog?
wrote:
How about if they SPECIFY what they are seeking??
Just a thought.
Have some heart people.. We do, just not for these 2 drivers who have already been paid To date for what they do, then to turn around and sue Gin for “unspecified $$. Whats with that ???
WE NEED MORE INFORMATION ON THIS ONE
Anonymous, No, Pitbull is simply a “handle”. Kind of like “Anonymous”. The difference is I have more definition then a simple Anonymous name. Like I said before, you are such a genius who knows all and has an opinion on everything, which for the most part sucks. Whenever someone on this site expresses their opinion you attack them, you seem to feel that they are not entitled to express an opinion that differs from yours and have no respect for anyone. Therefore you will continue to receive the same harsh treatment. “You get what you give”
I am supposed to have my feelings hurt by a nickname with alledged definition.
Don’t like anonymous? How about the other 5 handles I post under which that never recieve backlash and do share the same opinion as mine?
Talk about a simple mind.
“I see the word ‘anonymous’ and I get a woody!” says the man with definition. arf, arf, arf!
Clearly defined wrote:
It will depend on how the contract is written. Lawsuits are supposed to be specific about damages incurred and what you want to settle it.
arf, arf!
I agree with Pitbull….a contract is a contract - pay up!! Doesn’t really matter if they are Rookies or have
been driving for 100 years, contractual obligations have to be addressed. That is the reason why there are
contracts in the first place!