Former Heroes of the Storm esports players sue ex-owner for over $50K in unpaid earnings

Five former members of Heroes of the Storm esports team, Naventic, are suing their ex-owner James Ross Elliot II for more than $50,000 in unpaid earnings.

According to Dot Esports (thanks, GI.biz), Christopher “zuna” Buechter, Ken “Kenma” Buechter, Sammuel “bigempct” Hua, Thomas “Tomster” Maguire, and Josh “bkid” Choi – who all worked for Elliot II between February 2016 and August 2017 – originally filed the complaint against Naventic in August 2018, but it took 14 attempts to locate and serve the court documents to Elliot II.

The lawsuit alleges Elliot II owes the five players $55,125 in unpaid wages and prize money from tournaments, not inclusive of interest. It also claims Elliot failed to pay tax for Naventic in the State of Arkansas where it was listed as an LLC, and accuses him of using Naventic’s monies as his own personal expense account.

Naventic managed its Heroes of the Storm team from February 2016 to August 2017, for which both Christopher and Ken Buechter were founding members. It’s alleged Elliot II "disappeared" in April 2017 after failing to submit salary payments. The team persevered without Elliot II until it was sold to businessman Rolando Flores in August 2017, and then shortly disbanded. 

While there’s no word yet on a set court date, it’s thought lawyers will meet with the court in February 2019.