The Town of Foxborough on Tuesday filed a counterclaim against the Kraft Group responding to a lawsuit alleging that the town is “abusing its licensing authority to force the Kraft Group to pay over $950,000 to host events at Gillette Stadium,” according to Susannah Sudborough of MASSLIVE. The Kraft Group filed the lawsuit in Norfolk County Superior Court in June, claiming that, despite state law limiting event licensing fees to $100, “Foxborough officials made renewing the stadium’s event license conditional upon paying a $953,640 invoice.” In its court filing, Foxborough “denied the majority of the Kraft Group’s allegations,” arguing that the Kraft Group “conflated the event licensing fee with its financial obligations under the lease for Gillette Stadium.” Foxborough’s counterclaim argued that the Kraft Group’s lawsuit “violated ‘implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing’ by denying conditions agreed to in the 2000 lease.” The town’s filing asked the court to “dismiss the lawsuit and affirm the validity of the event license, its conditions and the town’s authority to issue such a license.” Foxborough also “asked the court to void the event license if it rules against the town, terminating the Kraft Group’s right to hold events at Gillette Stadium and sending the matter back to the Foxborough Select Board” (MASSLIVE, 7/7).
Foxborough files counterclaim in Kraft Group licensing row
