On February 5, DraftKings allegedly submitted a lawsuit against its previous executive, Michael Hermalyn, over his ’secret plan’ to aid Fanatics, which included purloining clients data prior to taking a job at Fanatics as the Fanatics wagering executive a week ago.

But the legal battle doesn’t stop there; because yesterday, February 7, Hermalyn reportedly parried in a written statement submitted in Federal Court, saying the claims are “completely false and fabricated,” as reported by Front Office Sports.

16-page filing by Hermalyn:

In his 16-page filing  in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, he wrote: “When I decided to leave, I knew from past experience with DraftKings that they would likely come after me aggressively and malign me as they have done with others. However, I am shocked and disappointed to see that they would go so far as they have and actually make so many completely false and fabricated accusations against me in court.”

However, DraftKings refused to provide a comment on the aforementioned filing when contacted by Front Office Sports.

On a related note, Hermalyn contradicted the allegation in the original lawsuit that he was in Los Angeles, more specifically at the offices of Fanatics in Los Angeles, on January 29th, following an email sent to his co-workers that he’d be taking 2 days off due to the death of his friend. Additionally, he provided the name of the aforementioned friend who died of cancer on January 27 in the filing.

Reportedly, commenting on that, he said according to Front Office Sports: “DraftKings’ accusation that I falsely claimed to be mourning the death of my friend … is both wrong and disappointing. [That] week … was particularly difficult for me emotionally. In addition to grieving the death of my friend, I was contemplating an opportunity to make a significant advancement in my career by joining Fanatics VIP.”

A job offer from Fanatics arrived on January 27:

The job offer from Fanatics officially came on January 27, and he encountered Rubin, CEO of Fanatics, in PA, not California, as claimed by DrafKings. In addition, he completed his transfer to the aforementioned Fanatics on Thursday, February 1, based on the declaration.

In that regard, he parried DraftKings’ allegation: “I did not discuss joining Fanatics or any of its affiliates with Mr. Rubin or anyone else during 2023. Nor have I ever encouraged any of my DraftKings colleagues to do so, or put any of my colleagues in touch with Fanatics’ CEO or any other Fanatics executives.”