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In a
Monday filing with the California Superior Court in Santa Ana,
Pimco also said Gross acted unprofessionally when he "abruptly
quit" the firm in a handwritten scrawl left behind in the middle
of the night for colleagues to find the next morning.
The Newport Beach, California-based firm's response ratchets up
the legal dispute that began last October when Gross sued Pimco,
accusing executives of plotting to oust him from the firm he
helped found more than 40 years ago and divide up his bonus.
Patricia Glaser, a lawyer for Gross, said in response that the
lawsuit targeted a "money grab" by Pimco executives who wanted
"a bigger piece of the pie - the piece that based on his
contract belonged to Bill."
Gross, a billionaire, is now a portfolio manager for
Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc, and has pledged to donate
proceeds from the lawsuit to charity. Janus said the lawsuit is
a personal matter for him.
Pimco is a unit of German insurer Allianz SE.
Gross left Pimco in September 2014 amid negative reports about
his leadership and weak returns at Pimco Total Return, once the
world's largest bond fund. He now runs the $1.3 billion Janus
Global Unconstrained Bond fund.
In its filing, Pimco said Gross' own "self-destructive behavior"
would have justified his firing, and included his "breaking
commitments to abide by management decisions, trying to sabotage
the careers of the former CEO and others he suspected of
disloyalty, and treating his colleagues abusively."
It also said Gross had no employment agreement, and acknowledged
in a meeting the day before he left that he would forfeit any
potential bonus if he quit that month.
Pimco attached to the filing a handwritten resignation note that
it said Gross left behind before leaving its offices for the
last time, and which it did not find until after Janus announced
his hiring on Sept. 26, 2014.
The note read: "TO: CEO, PIMCO.... This letter will confirm my
resignation from PIMCO as of Sept 26th, 2014 at 6:29 AM PST." It
was signed "William H Gross."
The case is Gross v. Pacific Investment Management Co et al,
California Superior Court, Orange County, No. 2015-00813636.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Clive
McKeef, Toni Reinhold)
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