Mike Hermalyn escalates legal battle against DraftKings

Added: June 5, 2024

The legal battle between DraftKings and Mike Hermalyn, former employer, is still heated.

Hermalyn made several new claims, one involving CEO Jason Robins, in a recent filing in which he requested a jury trial and refuted the accusations made against him in the original DraftKings case.

Robins was so enthusiastic about Hermalyn, according to Hermalyn’s filing, that he would frequently visit Hermalyn directly rather than his supervisor, Chief Customer Officer Shawn Henley.

The complaint reads:

“It was an open secret at DraftKings that Mr. Henley felt eclipsed by Mr. Hermalyn and was threatened by his position and success within DraftKings and beyond. Mr. Henley therefore sought to take Mr. Hermalyn down a peg any chance he got, including by seeking to undercut his professional rival’s position at DraftKings and by repeatedly taking credit for Mr. Hermalyn’s work.”

Additionally, the complaint claims that Robins effectively controls DraftKings despite the company being publicly traded. Hermalyn claimed that Robins was drawn to him because of his connections to desirable people and events. The complaint made clear that Hermalyn, not the company, was the original owner of these contacts, meaning that Hermalyn brought them to DraftKings rather than stealing them and giving them to his new employer Fanatics.

The complaint continues to describe DraftKings as a toxic workplace where staff members were eager to leave in search of better possibilities. The document claims that since the company revealed its plans to enter the sports betting industry, 186 DraftKings workers have applied for positions with Fanatics. This is not the first time the company has used similar techniques.

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