In 2019, The Binns who previously owned XpresSpa filed what has been described as a “frivolous and vindictive” derivative lawsuit against Bruce Bernstein of Rockmore Capital, Richard Abbe of Iroquois Capital, as well as their investment partner Brian Daly, owner of B3D, LLC.
The Binns were terminated by XpresSpa for numerous improprieties. It is believed by many within the company that the lawsuit was filed out of malice and to undermine the reputation of the secured lender and certain board members.
“These frivolous and legally laughable claims have been repeatedly dismissed by every court that has encountered them, and with good reasons, because they are baseless. We will pursue the Binn’s for their misconduct in bringing these claims, among other things, to make the record crystal clear,” said Chris Clark, counsel to Richard Abbe, who was fully vindicated by the decisions of the court.
On July 13, 2020, Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave issued a Report and Recommendation to Judge Woods advising that the complaint be dismissed in its entirety due to the circumstances. The report was 76 pages long and laid out a three-pronged explanation for the dismissal claiming that the case was an attempt to retaliate against being removed from the company.
Magistrate Judge Cave wrote, “the Binns have an outsized personal interest in this litigation,” and that they “illustrate[d] potential vindictiveness towards the Defendants.”
The case was decidedly thrown out with Prejudice by Judge Woods, which is a major legal admonishment against the claim.
We reached out to Xpresspa’s public relations department and were directed to their press release addressing the matter on August 11th.
“I guess I am more disappointed with journalists who are willing to sacrifice the integrity of journalism to advance completely false, fabricated, and inaccurate news stories for their own gain.” Said Brian Daly, who is now the owner of the Invigory along with his wife Helen Daly.
Brian Daly added, “ When you work on Wall Street for over 35 years, statistically you will lend money to bad people, and the Binn’s were just bad people.”
“ One must ask, why is a Real Estate journalist by the name of Eddie Small, advancing a false claim news story about a Spa under the disguise of a real estate transaction story? Yet, when a judge threw out that very claim WITH PREJUDICE, why didn’t the same reporter publish this newsworthy story? One might also ask, why a second “so-called” investigative reporter, who happens to be a convicted felon, posted a similar fabricated story? Basically, journalism has become marginalized by “bloggers for hire.” Reporting false, fabricated, and inaccurate stories cause us all to lose confidence in the media…, there is no doubt “Fake News” is real! ” Brian Daly stated.
We contacted Richard Abbe, former director of Xpresspa who stated that “the company should sue The Binns for legal fees and time wasted on such frivolous lawsuits against them.”
