Gambling companies clash again

The bitter legal tussle between Cantor Gaming and its former executive Joseph Asher reignited this week when Asher filed a counterclaim alleging that the Cantor litigation against his company Brandywine is designed to derail talks with William Hill on a $15.7 million takeover – something that would present Cantor with serious competition in Nevada.

The counterclaim is in response to Cantor’s allegation that Asher breached non-compete and confidentiality obligations as he built up Brandywine Bookmaking and Lucky’s Race and Sports Book, the Las Vegas Sun reported on Friday.

The new Asher filing accuses Cantor of launching a “belated and meritless attempt to damage Asher’s reputation and harass and distract him,” and was designed to “thwart the sale of Brandywine to William Hill for illegitimate competitive reasons and cause William Hill to reconsider its decision to have Asher serve as the CEO of its United States gaming business following its entry into the United States gaming market.”

In his initial response to the Cantor suit, Asher pointed out that during his service at Cantor he had been focused only on developing mobile betting systems and was not interested in running race and sports books. Cantor went after the race and sports betting sector only after he had left, Asher asserted.

The counterclaim also gives an insight into the corporate in-fighting that appears to have led to Asher’s departure, alleging that he and Cantor CEO Lee Amaitis had clashed.

“Asher was subjected to vitriolic tirades from his direct supervisor, Amaitis, about matters related to regulatory compliance when Amaitis was unwilling to follow certain recommendations of Cantor’s compliance committee, of which Asher was a member,” court documents allege.

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