Larry Flynt’s Brother Sues the Porn Empire

CINCINNATI (CN) - Jimmy Flynt, the brother of porn king Larry Flynt, filed two federal lawsuits, claiming the Flynt Management Group wrongfully fired him, and that lawyers failed to protect his business interests and property rights and facilitated his firing.

Jimmy Flynt seeks more than $20 million in damages.

His first complaint, against Beverly Hills-based Flynt Management Group, claims that Larry cut him out of the business after a lawsuit involving Jimmy's sons and their start-up entertainment business. Jimmy Flynt claims the Management Group dumped him despite "repeated specific and unequivocal promises and assurances to Jimmy of continued and indefinite employment at/within Hustler."

Larry Flynt sued Jimmy Flynt II and Dustin Flynt in 2009, alleging trademark infringement, then "contacted Jimmy demanding that Jimmy 'get control of his boys' and exert pressure on his boys to comply with his settlement demands, which included monetary compensation ($100,000) and an agreement not to use the Flynt name, alone, to market products," Jimmy Flynt says in his complaint. (Parentheses in complaint.)

The complaint continues: Larry made threats to Jimmy that if he could not make the lawsuit go away (i.e., if he could not persuade his sons to give in to Larry's demands) then he would 'cut him off' financially. Larry told Jimmy that he would take his (Jimmy's) compensation/salary to fund the lawsuit that he instituted against Jimmy's sons. Larry was blunt and unequivocal in threatening economic adversity and harm to Jimmy unless Jimmy was willing and able to exert sufficient and effective fatherly influence to affect the outcome of Larry's federal lawsuit in Larry's favor." (Parentheses in complaint.)

Jimmy says his boys stood their ground and refused to settle, so "Larry embarked on a course of action intending to wrongfully discharge/terminate Jimmy and otherwise 'squeeze' Jimmy out of the Hustler business/enterprise.

"First, Larry gave the directive to FMG to stop Jimmy's pay. ... No explanation was given to Jimmy. At one point in late February 2009, in violation of the law, FMG direct deposited funds into Jimmy's checking account and then a few hours later, took them back out. Jimmy sought an explanation but none was provided.

"After Jimmy's pay had been stopped, in early April of 2009, Larry sent Jimmy two legal bills incurred in connection with his lawsuit against Jimmy's sons and asked that Jimmy pay those bills directly."

Jimmy says the final straw came in late April, when a Hustler employee called his Hustler Cincinnati LLC and asked an accountant to "loan $400,000 from Hustler Cincinnati LLC to LFP Internet Group LLC (one of the entities within the Hustler enterprise) in connection with a mysterious 'major project' that the 'internet group' was working on." (Parentheses in complaint.)

When the accountant informed Jimmy of the request, he says he told her not to make the transfer, and that the Hustler employee responded: "This is going to be a problem."

The complaint adds: "Larry has admitted that he gave the directive in or around April of 2009 to use a fraudulent promissory note/loan in an effort to obtain 'excess cash' from the bank account(s)/possession of Hustler Cincinnati Inc. Larry believed that he was entitled to those proceeds even though Jimmy was/is the sole shareholder/owner of Hustler Cincinnati Inc. There was no 'major Internet project,' no other divisions were requested to loan 'excess cash' and Larry/LFP Internet Group LLC had no intention of paying the requested $400,000 loan back."

Less than a week later, Jimmy says, Larry tried to evict Hustler Cincinnati from its downtown premises and Flynt Management Group sent him a letter, "advising him that his purported position as an 'unpaid consultant' was being terminated by FMG."

In this complaint, Flynt seeks $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages for wrongful firing and breach of contract.

In his second complaint, Jimmy Flynt sued attorney Paul Cambria Jr. and four other attorneys, and the Buffalo, N.Y. law firm of Lipsitz, Green, Scime and Cambria. Jimmy Flynt claims the attorneys misrepresented him in several real estate ventures and asset transfers and took action against him, in a conflict of interest, to get him fired from Flynt Management Group.

He claims that from 2000-2009, the attorneys failed to properly represent him in a string of real estate deals and asset transfers, by representing both sides of the deals, and allowing him to "transfer stock worth millions of dollars for no consideration."

He claims the attorneys also "failed to properly advise, counsel and guide Jimmy and Hustler Cincinnati Inc. as to their trademark and intellectual property rights with respect to use of the Hustler name/mark, in connection with retail services in downtown Cincinnati, through HNG and HCI. Cambria failed to advise Jimmy and HCI that they would potentially jeopardize and/or lose their rights to the Hustler name/mark by making monetary transfers to LFP, docketed on HCI's financial books and tax returns, as 'licensing fees.' These transfers were directed by Cambria and defendant attorneys without full and proper disclosure as to the legal implications."

More recently, Flynt says, the attorneys "participated in and/or were complicit with an attempted scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $400,000 from HCI/Jimmy at the request of Larry in April of 2009, to include the drafting of a fraudulent promissory note which violated Ohio's securities laws."

He claims the lawyers followed up the scheme, which was mentioned in the first lawsuit, with the attempted eviction that was a conflict of interest: "Defendant attorneys are the ones who initially orchestrated and drafted the various documents related to HCI's tenancy at 411 Elm Street in 2004-2006. Yet, in May of 2009, defendant attorneys initiated adverse action against HCI related to HCI's leasehold rights. Defendant attorneys improperly used or attempted to use information obtained from HCI/Jimmy in the course of previous representation to adversely impact Jimmy/HCI's legal rights."

Finally, Jimmy says, the attorneys helped facilitate his firing from Flynt Management Group "so as to create the opportunity for Cambria and the Lipsitz Green firm to have increased power and control of the Hustler Enterprise, to protect their retainer agreement and yearly revenue stream and to otherwise increase the likelihood of increased revenues and professional fees in the years to come."

Flynt seeks $1 million in compensatory and another $1 million punitive damages.

He is represented by Robert Hojnoski in both complaints.

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