Sternberg seeks to consolidate lawsuits against him

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has asked a circuit court judge to combine two lawsuits brought by the team’s minority owners against his businesses into one.

Attorneys for Sternberg filed the motion to consolidate Wednesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, arguing that since both cases involve the same plaintiffs and “questions of fact,” consolidation would save time, money and resources; and “eliminate the risk of inconsistent judicial determinations of fact.”

At issue are two suits alleging Sternberg and his companies hid information from five minority partners as he sought to expand his stake in and control of the team. Those partners — Robert Kleinert, Gary Markel, the MacDougald Family Limited Partnership, Stephen M. Waters and a trust bearing Waters’ name — collectively own about 9.6% of the club.

The first suit, filed in May 2021, argued that Sternberg was engaged in fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and called for a full audit of the team’s finances. In March, a judge ruled that most of that lawsuit should go to arbitration — but one count, seeking to remove Sternberg as a general partner, could move toward a trial.

The second suit, filed in February, argued that two limited liability corporations held by Sternberg, as well as a partnership managed by Rays general counsel and senior vice president of administration John Higgins, held back key financial documents related to revenue and taxable income. Sternberg’s attorneys have not yet filed a response to that suit.