Noting that Sid Krofft is 94 years old, a judge has granted the television creator and puppeteer an expedited trial of his lawsuit in which he sued his late brother, Marty Krofft, alleging he is owed nearly $500,000 as part of a buyout of the plaintiff’s business interests.
Burbank Superior Court Judge Frank M. Tavelman ruling on Friday came a day after the parties filed joint papers saying they had agreed to delay any further hearings in the case until at least March 1 because of Marty Krofft’s death. The lawyers also indicated they have had settlement talks. However, Tavelman proceeded with ruling on the motions before him.
Sid Krofft sued his sibling on Jan. 30 for allegedly being late in paying nearly $500,000 owed as part of a buyout of the plaintiff’s business interests. The lawsuit also names Sid and Marty Krofft Productions and Sid and Marty Krofft Pictures Corp. among the other defendants. The allegations include breach of contract, negligence, financial elder abuse and unjust enrichment. In a separate ruling Friday, the judge ruled that all of the nine causes of action need shoring up and he gave the plaintiff 20 days to file an amended complaint.
Marty Krofft died Nov. 25 at age 86. In August, Sid Krofft’s lawyers brought court papers requesting a trial within 120 days of the hearing on the motion, which was unopposed by the defense. The judge said he will set a trial date later.
Sid Krofft suffers from melanoma that for a year has required him to undergo surgery and be treated via immunotherapy, according to a sworn statement by his attorney, Todd M. Wolfe. The treatments have left Sid Krofft with chronic pain and associated side effects resulting in fever, headaches, chills, fatigue, loss of taste and dry mouth, which has made eating difficult and caused both weakness and malaise, according to Wolfe.
The plaintiff also has atrial fibrillation, putting him at risk for blood clots, strokes and heart failure, Wolfe says.
Sid Krofft seeks $470,000 in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages, plus a declaration of the rights of the parties and a court order allowing him to inspect corporate records of all funds received since May 2017.
But in their court papers, defense attorneys deny any liability on the part of their clients.
“The complaint is completely devoid as to any specific allegations against these individuals or what the basis of liability against them could be and they should be dismissed with prejudice,” the defense lawyers argue in their court papers.
Sid and Marty Krofft, born in Greece and Montreal, respectively, made numerous children’s television and variety show programs, mostly in the 1970s, including “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “Land of the Lost” and “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.”
The Sid Krofft court papers state that over the years, Sid Krofft was frugal and Saturday lives in the same home he moved into in 1974, but that his sibling “lived large” and that the plaintiff loaned Marty Krofft hundreds of thousands of dollars when requested by his sibling to do so.
Sid Krofft’s generosity later put him in the “humiliating” position of having to ask his brother to pay for the plaintiff’s living expenses, according to Sid Krofft’s court papers.
Marty Krofft began showing “aggressive and irrational behavior” in the “seesaw nature” of their personal and financial relationship, so in May 2017 the two sides agreed that Marty Krofft and the Krofft companies would buy out the plaintiff’s shares in the entities and leave a zero balance, the Sid Krofft court papers state.
The agreement called for Sid Krofft to be provided a car and $10,000 a month for life beginning in July 2017, but the payments stopped in February 2019, the Sid Krofft court papers allege.
Beginning in February 2019, Marty Krofft began defrauding his brother into believing things the late sibling said about the Krofft entities’ solvency while still promising to pay his sibling the money due him, according to Sid Krofft’s court papers.