A shareholder of Viacom and CBS has filed a suit accusing the companies and chairman Sumner Redstone of hiding his “mental and physical incapacity.”
Shareholder E.F. Greenberg wants a judge to order the boards of Viacom and CBS to disclose the mental and physical capacity of the 92-year-old billionaire. Greenberg also seeks repayments from Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, “to the extent that each has been unjustly enriched by their and their colleagues’ wrongful conduct.”
The suit claimed that members of the boards “put the interests of the Redstones before the interests of each company.”
Viacom has repeatedly denied any claims that call Redstone’s mental well-being into question, and a company spokesman said Tuesday that the lawsuit was without merit. “We intend to contest it vigorously,” he said.
Richard Greenfield, the lawyer representing Greenberg, declined to characterize to TheWrap how many shares his client holds in either CBS or Viacom.
The case stems from a proceeding filed by Redstone’s one-time companion, Manuela Herzer, who is seeking to be reinstated as the steward of his care should he become incapacitated. Her suit, and her claims that Redstone is unable to follow conversations and sign his own name, have been rejected by Redstone’s lawyers. They say she is trying to insinuate herself into his estate after she was removed from it in October.
Herzer’s lawyer, Pierce O’Donnell, said in a statement that the new suit was “the inevitable result of the unlawful, orchestrated campaign to cover up Mr. Redstone’s lack of mental capacity and failing health.”
