Indiana University was added to a complaint surrounding a tropical golf resort in Puerto Rico.
(Indiana University Bloomington)
Indiana University was added to a $2 billion lawsuit over allegedly stolen plans for a tropical golf resort in Puerto Rico.
Tim and Doris Anne Sadler are also suing five former IU students, a professor and a real estate developer.
The Sadlers claim the students stole their ideas to develop a former U.S. Naval Base into a luxury golf course called Roosevelt Reserve. The couple partnered with the Kelley School of Business in 2021, when students analyzed their business plans and gave feedback.
“Ultimately, my clients lost a very lucrative business opportunity,” said attorney Paul Jefferson, the plaintiff’s legal representation.
In a release, Tim Sadler said they trusted IU, but the university didn’t take “even the most nominal actions required” by the Sadlers’ nondisclosure agreements.
Jefferson, a founding partner with SLS Law Group, said the facts of the case are still evolving, and new information prompted the addition of IU to the lawsuit.
A university spokesperson said IU does not comment on pending litigation.
Jefferson said IU bears some responsibility. A hearing is scheduled in March, and Jefferson said the complaint is in the discovery phase, so more information may come to light.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial.
“We’ll have to see what that role and responsibility is and how that flows along the way,” Jefferson said.
Kelley School professor Will Geoghegan is named as a defendant, accused of negligent supervision. Geoghegan’s legal representation declined to comment, but noted Geoghegan filed a 32-page answer and demanded a jury trial.
Geoghegan said he and two students signed NDAs related to the luxury golf course in order to conceal golfer Tiger Woods’ involvement with the project, because business partner and golfer Jack Nicklaus would expect a higher fee from the Sadlers.
Geoghegan said the five student defendants did not sign an NDA, and Tim and Doris Sadler deliberately did not use NDAs so they could “enlist a large number of students to work for free.”
“After removing Tiger Woods’s name from course materials, the Sadlers and [Mark] Hesemann personally provided the allegedly-confidential information to the Kelley students — knowing those students had not signed NDAs — in October and November 2021,” Geoghegan’s answer said. “These disclosures were made by them (on video).”
The Sadlers claimed former MBA students T.R. Hollis, Nicholas Prazuch, Kelly Webb, and Jim and Rachel Sprayregen breached a contract signed for a class project by sharing secret plans with another developer, Discovery Land Company.
In a recorded presentation, the students said they “explored a union with Discovery Land” and spoke with Discovery Land leaders without the express consent of the Sadlers, the complaint said. Two students had “direct access” to Discovery Land’s CEO and had a close relationship with executives.
Geoghegan denies most of the accusations, according to court files.
Geoghegan said the student defendants and the other 50-plus students in the class didn’t sign NDAs.
The Sadlers were recorded saying they were “wide open” to partnering with other businesses, Geoghegan said. They also praised the now-defendants, “declaring the Discovery Land Company proposal one of three winning teams.”
“By working with the students, Doris Anne (an attorney), Tim, and Hesemann repeatedly disclosed their allegedly confidential information without a non-disclosure agreement,” Geoghegan’s answer said.
He said the Sadlers approved the class syllabus, which didn’t mention confidentiality, and didn’t request NDAs or confidentiality before or during hour-long interviews with students in 2021.
Other defendants didn’t respond to requests for comment.
