Pimco's lawyers just fired the latest salvo in what they're calling "reputational warfare" with estranged co-founder Bill Gross.

Bill Gross Janus Capital Lead Portfolio Manager

A month ago the fallen bond king filed a $200-million lawsuit against the Newport Beach, California-based bond mutual fund shop, claiming he was wrongfully dethroned by a "cabal" of Pimco executives and deprived of his bonus, when Gross left Pimco [profile] for Janus [profile] in September 2014. Yesterday Pimco responded, calling on the court to dismiss the lawsuit and asking for a March 2016 hearing date. The case is Gross v. Pacific Investment Management Co et al, No. 2015-00813636 in California Superior Court in Orange County.

Barron's, Bloomberg, Dealbreaker, the Denver Business Journal, the LA Times, the New York Times, Reuters, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal all covered Pimco's response.

Pimco belittles Gross' complaint as "more like a screenplay than a court pleading."

"Mr. Gross's complaint is a legally groundless and sad postscript to what had been a storied career at Pimco," the filing reportedly reads. "This suit is only the latest step in Mr. Gross's effort to resurrect a personal reputation damaged by his own unacceptable behavior."

"Pimco has moved forward since Mr. Gross's resignation," the filing continues. "It is time for him to do the same, instead of treating this court as a forum to engage in the kind of reputational warfare embodied in his legally groundless complaint."

Patricia Glaser, one of Gross's attorneys, reportedly responded by calling Pimco's filing "a procedural tactic to delay getting the merits of the case."

"Pimco's papers do not dispute the substance of Mr. Gross's allegations in any material way," Glaser reportedly added. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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