The gang at Archie Comic Publications in Pelham is at it again in a long simmering family spat over control of the closely held comedic enterprise.
Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit sued co-CEO Jonathan Goldwater for $100 million last month in Westchester Supreme Court, claiming that he has not honored a previous legal settlement.
A spokesman for Goldwater said the lawsuit has not been served and he does not have a response at this time.
Archie was founded in 1939 by Louis Silberkleit, John L. Goldwater and Maurice Coyne. Silberkleit and Goldwater led the company as co-publishers until 1993, when their children assumed control.
Jonathan is a son, and Nancy is the daughter-in-law through her late husband, Michael, of the co-founders.
Archie is best known for wholesome characters Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge and for their antics at idyllic Riverdale High School.
But agita at Archie”™s headquarters surfaced in 2011 when Jonathan Goldwater sued for a restraining order to keep Nancy Silberkleit away from employees, claiming she was a disruptive presence. A Manhattan Supreme Court justice banned her from her office.
She responded with a $100 million lawsuit in 2012, accusing her co-executive of defaming her.
Months later, they agreed to drop their claims against one another and to submit to mediation to work out their differences.
Now Silberkleit claims Goldwater has not lived up to the memorandum of understanding they had stipulated to in the settlement.
She accuses him of denying access to financial records, denying equal incentive bonus compensation, disallowing meaningful review and consultation on contracts, isolating her office, allowing employees to make disparaging remarks about her, failing to hold or attend CEO and board of directors meetings, excluding her name from credits on Archie products, and declining to attend mediation sessions.
The complaint includes causes of action for defamation of character, breaches of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference.
Silberkleit is represented by Manhattan attorney Edmund Besong.
