Kirk Burrowes v. Sean Combs a/k/a "Puff Daddy", "Puffy", "P Diddy", "Sean John", Kenneth Meiselas, and Bad Boy Entertainment, Inc.
Burrowes was Bad Boy Entertainment's general manager (later president), 1992-1997. He alleges Combs promised him an ownership interest and at least 25% of profits, and that in May 1996 Combs -- allegedly carrying a baseball bat -- and attorney Kenneth Meiselas made a surprise visit to his office and intimidated him into surrendering his Bad Boy share certificate and signing a release of his interest. He alleges Combs continued to promise him equity through April 2001. He also alleges Combs and Meiselas tortiously interfered with his November 1997 agreement to manage/produce Mary J. Blige, causing her to breach with him and sign with Combs instead. This 2004 state contract/fraud/conversion suit followed a June 2003 federal RICO suit against the same defendants (S.D.N.Y.) that was dismissed for lack of a RICO cause of action in March 2004 (state claims dismissed without prejudice); Burrowes's federal appeal was itself later dismissed. This case predates by two decades, and closely corroborates key details (the May 1996 baseball-bat incident) of, Burrowes's 2025 sexual-assault suits against Combs (152856/2025 and 1:25-cv-07795) -- filed independently, as a contract/business dispute, with no sexual-assault allegations of its own. Not sexual-assault-related. A related 2006 suit (0602066/2006, "Other Torts") against the same three defendants was discontinued with prejudice by stipulation in 2007, without any monetary payment. FINAL OUTCOME: the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the trial court and dismissed Burrowes's complaint entirely (25 AD3d 370 [2006 NY Slip Op 00108], Jan. 10, 2006), holding that most claims arising from the 1996 incident were time-barred, that collateral estoppel (from the prior federal RICO action) barred Burrowes's equitable-estoppel argument for tolling, and that his tortious-interference claim over the Mary J. Blige contract was speculative. This is a legal/procedural dismissal on limitations grounds -- it does not adjudicate whether the underlying baseball-bat incident occurred.
| Date | No. | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2004 | 1 | RJI filed. Commercial Division. | No document |
| Jun 3, 2004 | 2 | Motion Seq. 1 (Dismiss Action), filed by Defendants Combs and Bad Boy; Motion Seq. 2 (Dismiss Action), filed by Defendant Meiselas. | No document |
| Jun 11, 2004 | 2-a | Commercial Initial Motion Cal. — Motion Seq. 1, adjourned. | No document |
| Jun 21, 2004 | 2-b | Commercial Submission Cal. — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, adjourned (S). | No document |
| Jul 9, 2004 | 2-c | Submissions Part — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, adjourned (S). | No document |
| Aug 6, 2004 | 2-d | Submissions Part — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, adjourned (S). | No document |
| Aug 20, 2004 | 2-e | Submissions Part — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, adjourned (S). | No document |
| Aug 23, 2004 | 2-f | Submissions Part — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, oral argument (60 Centre St, 9:30 a.m.). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Sep 30, 2004 | 2-g | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, adjourned (9:30 a.m.). | No document |
| Oct 13, 2004 | 2-h | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 1 and Seq. 2, submitted. | No document |
| Feb 18, 2005 | 3 | MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER — motions to dismiss the complaint (Seq. 1, Combs/Bad Boy; Seq. 2, Meiselas), or in the alternative to stay pending determination of a parallel federal RICO appeal (Burrowes v. Combs et al., S.D.N.Y., filed 06/10/2003, dismissed for lack of RICO cause of action, March 2004; state claims dismissed without prejudice), are GRANTED to the extent that this action and the motions to dismiss are stayed pending determination of the federal appeal. Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. [Underlying allegations: Burrowes, formerly Bad Boy's general manager/president (1992-1997), alleges Combs promised him an ownership interest and 25% profit share in Bad Boy; that in May 1996 Combs and attorney Kenneth Meiselas made a surprise visit to Burrowes's office, with Combs allegedly carrying a baseball bat, and intimidated him into surrendering his Bad Boy share certificate and signing a release; that Combs continued to promise an equity stake through April 2001; and that Combs and Meiselas tortiously interfered with Burrowes's November 1997 agreement to manage/produce Mary J. Blige, causing Blige to breach with Burrowes and sign with Combs instead.] | No document |
| Apr 11, 2005 | 4 | Order restoring the action to the calendar — the action had been stayed by the 02/18/2005 order pending resolution of the federal appeal; that appeal was dismissed. Parties directed to appear for argument 04/18/2005. Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Apr 18, 2005 | 5 | Compliance Conference held (9:30). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Apr 27, 2005 | 6 | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 3, submitted (PREV 002). | No document |
| Apr 28, 2005 | 7 | Order on the underlying motions (Seq. 1/2) entered, apparently denying dismissal in relevant part; defendants-appellants appealed this order to the Appellate Division, First Department, and moved for a stay pending appeal (see 08/11/2005 entry below). | No document |
| May 3, 2005 | 8 | Motion documents scanned (Motion No. 3). | No document |
| Jun 6, 2005 | 9 | Motion Seq. 4 (Reargument/Reconsideration), filed by Defendant. | No document |
| Jun 10, 2005 | 10 | Motion Seq. 5 (Reargument/Reconsideration), filed by Defendant. | No document |
| Jun 15, 2005 | 11 | Status Conference 53 adjourned (9:30); Commercial Submission Cal. — Motion Seq. 4, adjourned (VAC). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Jun 24, 2005 | 12 | Commercial Submission Cal. — Motion Seq. 5, adjourned. | No document |
| Jun 29, 2005 | 13 | Commercial Submission Cal. — Motion Seq. 4, oral argument (60 Centre St, 9:30 a.m.). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Jul 7, 2005 | 14 | Commercial Submission Cal. — Motion Seq. 5, oral argument (60 Centre St, 9:30 a.m.). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Jul 18, 2005 | 15 | Status Conference 53 — action STAYED (9:30). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Aug 11, 2005 | 16 | Appellate Division, First Department order (M-2864) — on defendants-appellants' motion pursuant to CPLR 5519(c) for a stay of all proceedings pending their appeal from the Supreme Court's order entered on or about 04/28/2005: motion granted on condition the appeal is perfected for the November 2005 Term, on pain of the stay being vacated on failure to so perfect. Signed by Clerk Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe; panel present: Andrias (P.J.), Marlow, Gonzalez, Sweeny, Catterson. | No document |
| Jan 10, 2006 | 16-a | Appellate Division, First Department decision, Burrowes v. Combs, 25 AD3d 370 (2006 NY Slip Op 00108) -- REVERSED and complaint DISMISSED, with costs. Held: most claims arising from the 1996 baseball-bat incident were time-barred; collateral estoppel (from the dismissed federal RICO action) barred Burrowes's equitable-estoppel tolling argument; the tortious-interference claim over the Mary J. Blige management contract was speculative, lacking factual support that the contract would have continued but for defendants' conduct. | No document |
| Sep 8, 2005 | 17 | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 4, submitted. | No document |
| Sep 13, 2005 | 18 | Decision on Motion Seq. 5 (Reargument/Reconsideration) — DENIED, with leave to renew on 5 days' notice; action noted as stayed by the Appellate Division's 08/11/2005 order until decision by the Appellate Division. Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Sep 13, 2005 | 19 | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 5, submitted. | No document |
| Sep 14, 2005 | 20 | Decision on Motion Seq. 4 (Reargument/Reconsideration). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| May 3, 2006 | 21 | Motion Seq. 6 (Other Reliefs), filed by Plaintiff, oral argument (60 Centre St, 9:30 a.m.). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Jun 1, 2006 | 22 | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 6, adjourned (9:30 a.m.). | No document |
| Jun 15, 2006 | 23 | IAS Motion 53M — Motion Seq. 6, submitted. | No document |
| Jun 29, 2006 | 24 | Decision on Motion Seq. 6 (Other Reliefs) — motion granted as reflected in the Court's transcript. Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Nov 16, 2006 | 25 | IAS Part 53 — stay removed. Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. | No document |
| Nov 17, 2006 | 26 | IAS Part 53 — Other final disposition (pre-note); disposed (DIS SFO). Before Justice Charles E. Ramos. [Exact final resolution -- e.g. settlement vs. dismissal -- not established from documents reviewed.] | No document |