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Richert's contract with DEI includes unique confidentiality, charity clauses
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Todd Warshaw
Getty Images for NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt Inc. required crew chief Doug Richert to endorse the Dale Earnhardt Foundation and required him to keep information learned about the Earnhardt family while he was a crew chief confidential as part of his contract with the team.
The contract was entered as an exhibit to a lawsuit DEI filed in North Carolina court to rule that it had proper cause to fire Richert earlier this season and no longer owes money to him.
DEI filed the complaint July 18 in North Carolina Superior Court. DEI fired Richert after the Richmond race this year, and its complaint states that it has received notification from Richert’s attorney claiming a breach of contract.
The DEI complaint states that Richert’s 2008 salary was $475,000 plus $50,000 in guaranteed bonuses. It said it fired Richert for poor performance of the car, his failure to work with the other crew chiefs and for not following procedure in ordering parts.
DEI Vice President John Story said he could not comment on the suit. Richert did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Richert, who won the 1980 Cup title as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, had signed a three-year deal with DEI last December to be the crew chief of the No. 01 team, which was being driven by Regan Smith this year. He has a nine-month non-compete clause following termination of the contract.
The contract appears fairly typical for crew chiefs and includes a confidentiality section over technical data as well as a morals clause.
But there are a few items unique to DEI:
• In the confidentiality section, confidential information includes “all personal and/or non-public matters relating to Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt, or their families, experiences or circumstances” gathered during his employment. Richert also was not allowed to write a book, short story, article or screenplay based on his experiences and cannot participate in any interviews relating to DEI, Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt and their families. He was allowed to do at-track interviews that focus on the car or drivers and their performance as it relates to the race.
• Richert also agreed to a clause to “endorse the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, and the Dale Earnhardt Foundation shall be the primary, non-religious charity to which Employee principally devotes Employee’s support and the time Employee spends on charitable matters.” He also agreed to do free appearances on behalf of the Dale Earnhardt Foundation.
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Comments
23 responses to "Richert's contract with DEI includes unique confidentiality, charity clauses". Post a Comment.
anonymous said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 11:15 AMUnbelievable!!!!!
Tom Faggart said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 11:38 AMAnything is possible to a family who held legal rights to another's name until he was over 30 years old. Sick is as sick is!
Pete Benanti said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 2:22 PMAny guesses from anyone what kind of secrets exist within the Earnhardt closet? I wonder if Teresa had a little hanky panky?
Christina Ellzey said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 2:31 PMWell, what comes to mind is the cause/circumstances of Sr.'s accident. There were rumors of heart problems, or siezures, or vision problems(take your pick) at the time of the crash. Teresa is militant about keeping the autopsy results sealed. Who knows what secrets they are hiding!
Pete Benanti said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 2:48 PMCould be, Chistina. Looking at the crash, though, D.E. looked well in control of his car even though he was crowding Marlin to the outside (and caused his accident). I wonder, though, further to your point, if there are incriminating pictures which would clear Simpson belts of wrongdoing......and Teresa had hanky panky...
Timothy Schultze said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 3:15 PMWHO CARES I CANT BELIEVE I EVEN READ THE ARTICLE OR LOOKED AT THE REPONSES WHO CARES LIKE YOU PEOPLE ARE ANY BETTER BUNCH OF KNOW IT ALLS MOST OF YOU PEOPLE NEVER WATCHED UNTILL FEBUARY 2001 NOW YOU WANT TO TALK LIKE YOUR ALL 25 30 YEAR FANS GET OVER YOUR SELF..
Bob Snyder said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 3:18 PMLike Tony Stewart said when it was first announced he was thinking about leaving DEI... that place will end up as a museum!
PAT McALISTER said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 3:23 PMShe is a money hungry woman who cares for no one but herself. Only thing that concerns her is that she inherited everything.
john english said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 3:39 PMNo wonder JR dosen't want any partnership with her. What a control freek. Just one question for all you lawyers out there. Now that she is saying that the payment terms of the contract are null and void does that mean all terms of the contract? can he now do intreviews , write a book about his champion ship season with Dale ect.
Pete Benanti said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 3:48 PMHey Timothy, did you hear that... a museum. That's what DEI will be. You don't have to be an old school fan to see that they have mismanaged themselves into making you go crazy. Take it easy on us, it's all because of the Teresa Hanky panky.
MARTIN said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 5:52 PMDEI/Mrs E is hiding somthing. So be it. She is also trying to make a 'god' out of Senior: her never ending merchandising his name has gone way overboard. To hold on to someones signature and make tons of money off of it is pathetic, what kind of peoople would do such a thing? AND to think Mrs E got "Mother of the Year" a few years after Seniors death. I so admire Kelly and Junior. They are so above Mrs E's type of behavior, they are so far above her. Nice to see them both affiliated with Mr H, he is good for them both.
Barb Kinney said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 6:27 PMTimothy, well said people need to get off Teresa & family. Jr was no saint.And what purpose whould an autopsy report or pictures serve only for some sick people.Dale Jr even said he was glad Teresa fought to seal them. Only sickos would want things like that public like they did on the internet with Randy Orrs pictures and Neil Bonnet's.People need to get a life.
robert mcleester said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 10:31 PMthe autopsy is not sealed its a matter of public record,
chris camino said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 11:41 PMShe and that Max guy are definatly in bed together. I think he will end up as a partner before too long. Probably claim its for the diversity program. I saw a pic of him and JR at a race last year. JR was looking directly into his eyes and that snake was looking at the ground. He knows he is wrong and she does too. They will pay..The museum theory is right on.
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 30, 2008 at 11:59 PMWell, there is something they don't want out. That is interesting. Not going to speculate, but it doesn't look good for the company. I understand about "proprietary" information, but what could be so bad in their "personal" life they'd have everyone take a vow of secrecy, and was this in place prior to Dale's death? And, maybe that's why Dale Jr didn't fight too hard to keep his job there.
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMI mean your personal life is your personal life, but Doug Richert was part of Dale's 1st championship before Dale married Theresa. Now, I am really curious because what's to say what she wants "hidden" wouldn't come to light by anyone else associated with Dale's family; such as his mother, 2 sisters & his 2 brothers. Did she make them sign the agreement as well?
Jon D. said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 12:07 AMActually #13, in the state of Florida, thanks to the EFPA passed just after Earnhardt's death, records pertaining to an autopsy are not public record in Florida. In addition leaking those records face fines as a felony charge. Seems like Teresa doesn't want anyone else making money off Dale. It'd decrease her returns! This also explains why Doug was on SPEED Report Sunday night! Money stopped coming!
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 12:24 AMBy the way did anyone else find it odd in this wording "all personal and/or non-public matters relating to Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt, or their families". I mean I hate to get picky and hope it's a typo, shouldn't the FOUNDER (Dale) have come first. Yes, he is gone, but he is the founder of DEI. Hence the name? Sorry, but I find that odd as well.
FRANK LAVACCA said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 6:17 AMhe signed it,im sure he read it,so its his problem.he was fired for poor performance,too bad.as for the rest ,its for the tabloids and not for this forum.let it go and let him fight his fight without all the bull from you letter writters.he made his bed with dei and now he got to either live with it or win his case.
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 12:31 PMI believe the whole point was that the contact had some "unique" language to it. True it is none of our business (unless it is being reported on), but we do have a right to comment on it. I gave no "bull" in my comments. Had DEI not wanted that informaiton known, it should not have submitted the contract to the court to become a matter of PUBLIC record. Most court cases are a matter of public record. After all, our taxes are paying for the judge to hear the case.
robert mcleester said:
Jul 31, 2008 at 7:33 PMTo: Jon D. guess i was misinformed, I thought only the pictures were sealed? I stand corrected!
Millporter said:
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:44 AMDon't be so tough on Mrs E. Mr & Mrs E built DEI together and that should give her rights to what she wants for the company. Junior even asked his fans (me) to give her a break. Sr was always my fav. Remember how exciting it was to see him come up through the field and cross that finish line? I do! Seeing Mrs E keeping that #3 and his name out there is gr8!
John Jones said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 11:11 AMRichert is the one I feel bad for here! He's proven he can do his job, with his success with Earnhardt and Biffle. What has this Smith kid done? They fire Richert, and the kid is still running poorly. I mean all he can do is get the car ready...he can't get in there and drive it for him too! I can only assume Smith's parents must be paying for the ride and needed to blame someone else for the poor performance, so they must have wanted Richert fired as a scapegoat. And I've never heard anyone say Richert was hard to get along with before this, so they must just be making stuff up to try to avoid paying him! All a very classless act on DEI's part!