Murder is Not a Viable Business Partnership Exit Strategy
By Nina Kaufman, Esq.From The Times of India, comes this story of two realtors who murdered their business partner because he was cheating them. You can’t make this stuff up. It probably doesn’t need to be said, but I will anyway: murder is not an appropriate or viable strategy for getting rid of your business partner.
I can hear the Law & Order “doink-doink” music now: first, they find the decomposed body wrapped in plastic in a nearby pond; then the detective investigates who was seen nearby; then, the office staff is questioned; then, like a bad Perry Mason episode where the culprit is always in the courtroom (why can’t these people just stay away and not call attention to themselves?), the dastardly duo give the police the very thing the police needed to make the arrest: motive. They tell the police that the deceased partner, Mr. Rakshit, had been stealing from the company. Gevalt.
There’s no question that enduring the repeated shenanigans and improprieties of a business partner is enough to make you “see blood” and “want to kill him/her.” I’ve had more times than I care to count where I was near tears in frustration, or angry enough to “spit bullets.” But that’s where a partnership agreement comes in handy. It should include situations for getting rid of a partner quickly — “do not pass go; do not collect $200″ — when they have been found with their hand in the till, guilty of felonies, or are the reason that the company has been saddled with a major sexual harassment suit. With partners like these, who needs enemies?
And if your partner turns out to be such a low-life (hey, we’ve all made mistakes), why would you want to pay for it the rest of your own life with a jail sentence? Better to get out and move on.
If you liked what you read, watch our video to see if Kaufman Business Law is a good fit for you.
