Janus Capital Group officials lied to an ex-fund manager when they promised he would get all contract protections offered to his colleagues, and he deserves more than $9 million in damages for that broken promise, his lawyer argued Thursday.
Janus executives’ decision to give a star portfolio manager a secret, special deal in 2006 after vowing to treat all fund overseers equally violated Ed Keely’s employment agreement, Glen Summers, Keely’s lawyer, told jurors in closing arguments of his breach-of- contract case. The company shouldn’t be able to dismiss the lie as a business decision, Summers said.
“When that turned into a lie, when that turned into deception, when it turned into fraud, it was no longer just a business decision,” he said.
The jury began deliberating Thursday. The week-long trial in state court in Denver has cast a spotlight on Janus chief executive Gary Black’s move in 2004 to curtail the power of individual fund managers in favor of team- based investing and his alteration of compensation agreements.
Janus officials contend they didn’t violate Keely’s contract and paid him everything he was due when he left in 2007. Janus paid Keely $2.2 million in stock and stock-option grants as severance.
