I Sue You, You Sue Me

Seven years ago, Lyons Partnership -- the Allen-based company best known for feeding and bathing Barney -- paid the dino's creator, Plano's Sheryl Leach -- some $65 million as a "contract termination payment" when HIT Entertainment took the leash. Only, says the Internal Revenue Service now, that lump-sum payment wasn't...

By Robert Wilonsky

March 25, 2008

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Seven years ago, Lyons Partnership -- the Allen-based company best known for feeding and bathing Barney -- paid the dino's creator, Plano's Sheryl Leach -- some $65 million as a "contract termination payment" when HIT Entertainment took the leash. Only, says the Internal Revenue Service now, that lump-sum payment wasn't kosher, and it's filed a federal lawsuit against Lyons Partnership to prove it. Reports Forbes, the IRS says now that payment should have been spread out in smaller payments over several years. Which the delightfully litigious Lyons Partnership disputes. Though there's still one thing we can all agree on: Barney is the devil. --Robert Wilonsky

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