It’s a court battle that’s been brewing for years. Two of actor Paul Newman’s five daughters are suing the “Color of Money” Oscar winner’s Newman’s Own Foundation, alleging a breach of fiduciary duty by those who seized control of the organization shortly after the actor’s death.
The lawsuit — filed Wednesday in Connecticut by Susan Newman and her sister Nell — revolves around an annual $400,000 payment earmarked for each of Newman’s five daughters, for benefit of their own foundations. The daughters were supposedly allowed to take a “reasonable salary” from that money and to direct the balance to charities of their own choosing. However, in 2000, after 11 years of full funding, NOF decided unilaterally to cut that payment to $200,000.
The lawsuit alleges the foundation was granted rights to Paul Newman’s publicity and intellectual property rights on the condition that it continue the $400,000-a-year disbursement. It also alleges that numerous changes were made to the actor’s will in the final months of his life, a time when Newman admitted in writing that he was experiencing memory issues as he battled cancer.
