Brooks Sues Former CEO - Pollstar News

Garth Brooks is headed to court with a former employee over what he claims is an overdue $226,000 loan he made to the CEO of his production company Red Strokes Inc.

Photo: Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP

Academy Of Country Music Awards, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.

His suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville, seeks repayment of the funds plus interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, according to court documents obtained by the Tennesseean.

Lisa Sanderson, who served as CEO of the company for years, alleges the money was a gift and that, as friends, the singer offered “to take care of any legal fees Sanderson incurred” during a custody dispute over her son, with reassurances that “Sanderson would never have to repay him for the legal fees.”

Additionally, she claims she’s still owed money from Red Strokes, which Brooks shut down in late 2010.

A memorandum filed by Sanderson’s attorney noted she discovered in May 2011 that Red Strokes had continued to process payroll checks to her that were never received, the Tennessean reported.

Sanderson said she asked the company to stop so she wouldn’t be held liable for taxes on “dummy” checks, but the company reportedly continued to issue the pay stubs.

Red Strokes filed suit in November 2011 alleging it had made two loans to Sanderson, who in turn filed a complaint of her own in a California Superior Court claiming she’s owed production fees and severance or retirement payments from Red Strokes.