Jonathan Cain Wins Legal Victory Against Neal Schon
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has won a significant legal victory against bandmate/guitarist Neal Schon.
Per Ultimate Classic Rock, Cain won a ruling that would require a third-party director to be added to Journey tour company Freedom 2020 to help handle disputes between him and Schon.
The ruling stated, “Mr. Schon is prohibited from unilaterally acting on behalf of the Company and all future deadlock between Mr. Cain and Mr. Schon will be broken by the vote of the Custodian.”
As previously reported, Schon issued a lengthy statement via Facebook on August 22 stating that he and Cain have agreed to bring in a third party to help resolve their current issues. Schon hoped the third party will “bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”
However, on August 26, Cain’s legal representation filed new court documents stating Schon was not agree to a third party and noted he was “attempting to backtrack on his agreement for the Court to appoint a custodian to serve as a third, deadlock breaking director of [Journey business entity] Freedom 2020, Inc., and is now seeking inappropriately limit the role of the custodian.”
This is the latest development in a very long, annoying legal battle between Schon and Cain. The bandmates’ recent issues are related to an American Express card. As previously reported, Cain filed a lawsuit on July 30 in Delaware against Schon and Freedom 2020, Inc., the operating entity that handles Journey-related business. (Freedom 2020, Inc. is based in Delaware.) In the lawsuit, Cain accused Schon and his wife, Michaele, of overusing the business’s American Express card for personal expenses, even though the card is meant to be used for Journey business expenses.
Cain’s lawsuit states that he and Schon each have their own card attached to the account. While the account, itself, has a $1 million limit, Cain and Schon’s cards have limits of $30,000. However, Cain’s lawsuit alleges Schon and his wife were able to work around their $30,000 limit to access more value on the account.
Following news of the lawsuit, Journey canceled its upcoming U.K./Ireland tour, which consisted of 11 shows. Fans who purchased tickets to those shows reportedly received an email that states, “Due to circumstances beyond the band’s control, Journey’s UK and Ireland tour is unfortunately canceled. Refunds will be made from your point of purchase.”A reason for the sudden tour cancelation has not been disclosed, but many outlets are pointing to Schon and Cain’s lawsuit as the potential reason.
