Intelligentsia Face $15m Lawsuit From Former CEO

In a rather strange turn of events, former Intelligentsia President and co-CEO Robert Buono is attempting to sue his former employees as a result of the company’s sale to Peet’s.

Buono helped the company out back in the mid-1990s before re-joining as co-CEO a couple of years ago. He left last year.

According to reports, Buono has stated that when he left Intelligentsia last year, the third-wave coffee chain’s founders couldn’t afford to pay him what he was worth.

Instead, they came to an agreement that he would receive a percentage of future profits.

Buono alleges he is due incremental percentages of profits between August 2012 and October 2015, and then a flat 15% thereafter.

The lawsuit alleges that when the company was sold to Peet’s he, therefore, should have been entitled to a 15% cut, or to be bought out entirely.

Commenting on the case, Buono’s attorney, P. Andrew Fleming, said his client had not been fairly paid despite his “outstanding [work in] turning the company around.”

“He made the firm very attractive to potential acquirers,” Fleming added.

The lawsuit also alleges that when he joined the company Buono found a company that had no online wholesale ordering platform, no supplier data or marketing plans.

It’s clear that they are attempting to paint Intelligentsia as a failing business prior to Buono’s arrival, thus enhancing his positive impact and worth to the company.

At the time of writing, Intelligentsia had not commented about the legal action of their former CEO.