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A New York state judge in Manhattan this week dismissed
Keitel's lawsuit accusing E*Trade Financial Corp of reneging on
a January 2014 contract for the online brokerage to feature him
in three commercials for $1.5 million.
Keitel, 77, said E*Trade agreed to have him do the commercials,
after the actor Christopher Walken had declined to participate,
only to decide unexpectedly to move "in a different direction"
and instead offer only a $150,000 termination fee.
Justice Charles Ramos of state supreme court, however, said a
written "term sheet" for hiring Keitel merely lay the groundwork
for a contract, and that there was no "meeting of the minds"
about what the contract should say.
He said it did not matter that employees of E*Trade's ad agency
and a marketing firm it hired were exchanging emails, which
Keitel did not see at the time, calling the offer firm.
Ramos also noted that Keitel's agent was still negotiating,
including in an email in which she said Keitel "really wants a
director who knows his work. Maybe someone like Ridley Scott,
etc," on the day before E*Trade changed course.
Ramos' decision was dated Monday and filed with the court clerk
the following evening. E*Trade's headquarters are in midtown
Manhattan.
Victor Bushell, a lawyer for Keitel, did not immediately respond
on Thursday to requests for comment.
Marc Greenwald, a lawyer for E*Trade, said: "E*Trade is pleased
that the court recognized that its advertising agent's
expression of interest wasn't an enforceable agreement, and that
the court properly dismissed this case with prejudice."
The case is Keitel v. E*Trade Financial Corp, New York State
Supreme Court, New York County, No. 652220/2015.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
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