Two Rockland softball organizations are playing hardball for the rights to the name and legacy of the Northeast Angels.
NES Baseball & Softball Facility Inc. accused Northeast Angels Softball LLC of stealing the Angels’ name and deceiving the players, in a complaint filed Oct. 25 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
“Defendants have robbed NES of the years of investments it made into the Northeast Angels,” the complaint states, “and now they audaciously operate a competing enterprise using the money, equipment and intellectual property they have stolen.”
The new Northeast Angels did not respond to an email that asked for its side of the story.
Russ Cohen, of New City, formed NES in 2019 and built a 19,000-square-foot training facility in Chestnut Ridge that does business as Northeast Supreme.
NES makes money from training athletes and from the dues they pay to play on its baseball and softball teams, including the NJ Axemen, Grit, and Northeast Supreme.
In 2020, NES acquired two softball teams known as the Jersey Girls and rebranded them as the Northeast Angels.
Joel Yoffee, of Ringwood, New Jersey, proposed that NES hire his daughter, Alexandra Yoffee, who had played softball for Rutgers University, according to the complaint.
Alexandra was named head of softball operations. Under her leadership the Angels expanded to seven teams with 81 players.
The Angels were successful in tournaments, the complaint states, and after witnessing that success “Joel was no longer content to watch from the bleachers.”
This past April, Joel purportedly proposed a 50-50 partnership with NES to build a training facility for the Angels in Suffern, seven miles from the Chestnut Ridge facility.
NES says it declined the offer.
Then unbeknownst to NES, Joel incorporated Northeast Angels Softball LLC in New York. Though NES had operated the Angels for two years, it had not officially recorded Northeast Angels as an assumed name, according to NES’ incorporation record.
On August 4, Joel announced in a Zoom meeting that Alexandra had resigned as of Aug. 1. In a subsequent call on Aug. 10 he allegedly stated “these girls are ours,” in reference to the Angels.
Alexandra allegedly logged into NES’ computer server a dozen times after she resigned and gained access to confidential information about players and pricing.
Then the Yoffees sent letters to players and family members of the Angels asking for dues for the upcoming season, according to the complaint. They made it appear as business as usual. But the letter allegedly directed dues payments to a bank account held by the Yoffees, displayed NES’ logo for the Northeast Angels, and made no mention of Alexandra’s resignation or Joel’s ownership of the Suffern facility.
NES claims that the Yoffees diverted $113,400 in dues plus $145,800 that will become payable in the coming months.
The complaint accuses the father-daughter team of trademark infringement, computer fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, conversion of equipment and digital assets, receiving stolen property, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, interference, unjust enrichment and unfair competition.
NES is represented by New Jersey attorney Paul S. Grossman.
