Venture capital firm sues its former general counsel, once a child actress on 'The Wonder Years'
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A lawyer who portrayed Becky Slater on The Wonder Years, a TV show than ran from 1988 to 1993, is facing a lawsuit of more than $1 million stemming from her work as a general counsel for a venture capital firm.
The Oct. 2 lawsuit accuses Crystal Scripps McKellar of violating terms of her separation agreement through a “concerted whisper campaign” against her former employer, report Law360 and Law.com.
The suit says the February separation agreement paid “a substantial severance” and gave McKellar a courtesy title and an ongoing consulting role. In exchange, she promised not to disparage her former employer, to maintain confidentiality, and to refrain from competition, the suit says.
The suit was filed in Texas state court by Mithril Capital Management, a venture capital fund co-founded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
The suit says McKellar was apparently the author of “false, anonymous complaints” made in letters to Mithril’s limited partners, portfolio companies and other third parties. The false letters raised concerns about financial disclosures and management fees, the suit said.
Mithril had reviewed and signed off on the financial disclosures, the suit says.
The suit says McKellar was identified as the likely culprit for one of the letters through a handwriting analysis.
McKellar has formed a competing fund and solicited Mithril’s limited partners and portfolio companies for the new fund, the suit alleges.
Mithril seeks a declaratory judgment that the provisions in the separation agreement are enforceable, that Mithril is discharged from its obligations under the agreement, and that McKellar must abide by her promises. The suit also seeks damages for alleged breach of contract.
McKellar is a graduate of Harvard Law School. She told Law.com that allegations of wrongdoing in the lawsuit “are unequivocally false, and it will be a simple matter to prove them false if it gets that far.”
McKellar told Law.com that she has “not and will not be accepting any Mithril investors” into her fund. Fund investors are locked in, she said, and they can’t simply move a capital commitment from one fund to another.
McKellar played a love interest of the character Kevin Arnold, portrayed by Fred Savage, on The Wonder Years. McKellar’s sister, Danica McKellar, played Winnie Cooper, Savage’s character’s other love interest. Law360 notes that McKellar’s Slater character punched Arnold in the stomach after he broke up with her.
