Despite having gone bankrupt in 2009, host agency Joystar's name lives on -- at least in Florida courts.
Drew Axelrod, one of Joystar's former independent contractors and the lead agent in the successful effort to force Joystar into bankruptcy, sued Costa Cruise Lines this week, alleging that the line interfered with his business, demanded outrageous terms for any future bookings with him and owes him tens of thousands of dollars in commission.
Costa did not respond to questions about the suit, and generally does not comment on pending litigation.
This is not the first time that Costa, Axelrod and Joystar have been named in the same court document. In August 2009, federal courts dismissed a lawsuit brought by Joystar against Axelrod; in that suit, Joystar had accused Axelrod of "diverting" and retaining $86,000 in commissions generated by a group cruise aboard a Costa ship. The payments should have been paid to the host, Joystar contended.
According to the suit Axelrod filed this week in Broward County circuit court, Axelrod alleged that Costa owes him $35,461.95 in commission that the cruise line paid to Joystar, despite Axelrod's release from the host.
Axelrod alleged that Costa had a "special relationship" with Joystar and made Axelrod book through Joystar despite knowing about its precarious financial condition.
Axelrod alleged that, in February 2008, "in a blatant attempt to destroy plaintiff's business," Costa informed him that Joystar would be paid his commission. The following month, Axelrod said that Joystar cashed the commission check and refused to hand it over to Axelrod, who was "not paid a penny".
Axelrod also said that despite having hosted a "successful" dance cruise in 2008, Costa subsequently demanded an "inordinately outrageous and excessive upfront deposit in contradiction to standard practice and in violation of the oral agreement."
The suit also alleges that Costa insisted Axelrod give all his passenger information to Leonard Moskowitz, the owner of a company called Stardust Dance Productions. Axelrod also said that Moskowitz's company now uses the Stardust Dance Cruises name on cruises without Axelrod's permission. Moskowitz is also a defendant in the suit, and declined to comment on the suit.
Moskowitz's company, Stardust, sued Axelrod in 2009, alleging that Axelrod's company, Cruise Groups, failed to pay some or all of the commissions promised to the various entities that recruited passengers for the dance cruises, causing Stardust to take on the responsibility of compensating those entities in order to maintain its business relationships with them. That suit, filed in New York, was never found to have jurisdiction over Axelrod, according to Axelrod's attorney.
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