UPN President Sues Over Bonuses

UPN President and Chief Executive Dean Valentine hurled a grenade at his own television network Thursday, suing for up to $22 million in bonuses he said were promised to lure him to the struggling network but were never delivered.

UPN is owned by Viacom’s Paramount Pictures.

When Valentine was recruited to run UPN in 1997, the network was owned by Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries. At the time, Valentine was head of television at Walt Disney Co., where he had been a successful executive for more than a decade and oversaw the development of such hit ABC shows as “Ellen” and “Home Improvement.”

“Dean was heavily recruited to go over to UPN,” said his attorney, Dale F. Kinsella. “While it seems unusual for a sitting studio president to sue his own network, this was not a precipitous action.”

After a four-month courtship, Valentine joined the infant network in September 1997, signing a five-year contract.

During Valentine’s first three years at UPN, network officials failed to come up with terms of his incentive plan, which was supposed to be based on his achievements at the network, according to Valentine’s breach-of-contract suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“Dean has something of the patience of Job,” Kinsella said. “For the first three years, UPN came up with no [incentive] plan, no nothing. And after four years, what they came up with was a bit of revisionist history and doesn’t live up to the original intent of the agreement.”

Valentine, who was on the job at the network Thursday, did not return a call seeking comment. A UPN spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a Paramount spokesman.

However, a Paramount official said bonuses are only part of an executive’s compensation package.

“We believe that Dean’s compensation package is both fair and consistent with his contract, but he seems to have a different view,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “That being said, we’re hopeful that this current financial dispute can be resolved quickly.”

It was unclear Thursday whether Paramount or Viacom officials will allow Valentine to continue to run the 6-year-old network.

According to Valentine’s lawsuit, he was aware of the risk of joining the struggling network but joined UPN after being offered a compensation package sweetened with bonuses worth up to $22 million “if he did an exceptional job,” the suit said.

Valentine was to be paid about $12.5 million during the contract period “if he did an ‘OK’ job,” the suit said. “Valentine was guaranteed a minimum of $5.5 million under the [proposed incentive plan] no matter what type of job he did at UPN.”

The suit says Valentine is currently owed between $9.4 million and $16.5 million, and by the time his contract ends, he will be owed up to $22 million, plus interest.

When Valentine joined UPN, the network’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as EBITDA, were a negative $190 million, the suit said. During his tenure EBITDA results improved “by an estimated $100 million to $130 million.”