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Reinsdorf's unneighborly act
Sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf regularly offers carrot cake and other sweets to fans who watch his Bulls and White Sox from luxury boxes, but that is not the way he greeted his new next-door neighbor after he purchased a home in a Chicago suburb. Instead of serving her carrot cake, he served her with a lawsuit. The case against Dr. Chandra Mohini Khurana, a physician who devotes her days to the caring of children, was filed in Cook County Circuit Court even before Reinsdorf moved into the cul-de-sac in Northfield, Ill, just north of Chicago. His lawyers have been pounding away at Khurana over the past months, claiming "nuisance" and "trespass" and "irreparable harm." It's a matter, they say, of "substantional annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort" for the Reinsdorfs. The origin of this so-called discomfort, according to Reinsdorf and his battery of attorneys, is a man-made pond in the yard behind Khurana's home, which he says has overflowed into Reinsdorf's property and is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. If filing a lawsuit was not enough of an insult to a new neighbor, Reinsdorf's lawyers have added to the offense, not spelling Khurana's name correctly in the dozens of papers they have filed in court. They list her as "C. Mohinikhuvana" again and again in the paperwork. Khurana's lawyers claim that the misnomer voids all the court orders taken against "an unknown and fictitious person." Reinsdorf's lawyers have also managed to mix up the address of Khurana's property, even though it sits less than 100 feet from Reinsdorf's. A court order entered on May 21 required Khurana to make some changes to a property at a certain address, but it is not her address. She cannot be expected to make changes on a home that is not hers, her lawyers somewhat reasonably suggested. Richard Wolfe, Khurana's lawyer, wants Reinsdorf to pay his client's attorney fees that have resulted from the errors Reinsdorf's lawyers have made in the court papers. "How is she supposed to know what to do to make him happy? The whole thing is a mess," Wolfe says. Asked about the incorrect name and the erroneous address , Reinsdorf's lead attorney, Linda Miller , offers no apologies. "The address error is a typo," she says. "That's all it is. We were relying on the village's records for her name. We'll change it and that will be the end of it." Even if the two sides can resolve the name and the address errors, they cannot agree on the state of the backyard. In a court memorandum, Khurana claims the "repairs have been substantially completed" as of Sept. 5; Reinsdorf's lawyers insist the work has not even begun. More than a year after he purchased the home, with his lawsuit nowhere near a conclusion, Reinsdorf looked for help elsewhere. "He has called me dozens of times about the doctor and her yard," says one Northfield village official. "It has gone on for more than a year." The village government has now issued a citation (the equivalent of a traffic ticket) to Khurana, charging her with building code violations. A court hearing on the citation is scheduled for Nov. 9. With no end in sight for the litigation, maybe Reinsdorf and his new neighbor should consider making an adjustment to their thinking. Reinsdorf made a fortune from creative ideas in the development and management of real estate. Surely there is something he could do to solve this problem and allow the neighbors to enjoy their cul-de-sac. Here's an idea that might work. It starts with one of those luxury box dessert carts. Reinsdorf owns a fleet of them. They are similar to the carts lawyers use to bring their papers to court for a big case. Instead of wheeling in files and pleadings at the next court appearance, one cart could be used to deliver a carrot cake. Bring enough for Reinsdorf and all of his lawyers and Khurana and her representative. Let them eat their cake and talk. Before anyone reaches for seconds, they will have a deal in place to solve their problem. Sports Illustrated legal analyst Lester Munson regularly holds court on sports law and business matters on CNNSI.com.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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