A former executive of Opus Northwest, a high-profile commercial developer in the Twin Cities that's up for sale, has sued the struggling company for violating his separation agreement and reneging on more than $2 million in pay.
The pay dispute is the latest legal thorn for the beleaguered Opus organization, which all but imploded following the real estate downturn. Only two of the regional Opus companies still stand: Opus Northwest in Minnetonka and Opus North near Chicago. Opus companies in Maryland, Atlanta and Phoenix filed for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
Opus Corp., Opus Northwest's former parent company in Minnetonka, has shut down.
Tim Murnane, a senior vice president at Opus Northwest who left last June, said the company missed a payment of $79,266 last month, and then wrote him a letter saying it won't make any of the various payment installments it agreed to, according to a complaint filed Friday in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis. The payments included annual installments for the unvested balance in Murnane's deferred compensation plan, annual separation agreement payments spread over 10 years -- with interest -- starting at $209,014, and six annual cash payments of about $79,266 from his incentive compensation plan, the lawsuit said.
In an interview, Murnane said the company left him no other option.
"It's really unfortunate what's happening at Opus right now and I feel bad for them, but the fact of the matter is they did breach my separation agreement," he said.
Murnane, who spent 22 years with Opus, is well-known in the Twin Cities for leading several major developments, including the construction of Best Buy's Richfield headquarters and the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove. He now heads up a new regional office for Clayco Inc., a developer based in St. Louis.
Opus Northwest spokeswoman Winston Hewett said the company is "hopeful that with the recapitalization process that a resolution to the deferred compensation will be remedied."
