On Monday, Sumner Redstone and his legal team suffered a defeat as the court rejected a motion to put a quick end to the case, which is about the 92-year-old's role in decision-making at CBS Corp and Viacom Inc. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the lawsuit could proceed to trial.
According to the Variety, the ruling that was made by Judge David J. Cowan makes Manuela Herzer the victor of the case. Herzer was Redstone's longtime companion, who headed to court three months ago seeking reinstatement as Redstone's health care agent and to have him declared mentally incapable to care for himself. The media mogul recently stepped down as chairman of CBS and Viacom.
Judge Cowan said in his 21-page ruling that 'a trial was necessary because there are numerous factual disputes' that had to be settled. The justice also added that it was not clear that the care of Redstone was receiving proper oversight from either Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, who replaced Herzer, and Redstone's daughter Shari. Moreover, the judge included in his ruling that he found it 'perplexing' that Redstone had delegated his ultimate care decisions to corporate administrators on the East Coast during the time he became incapacitated.
Share prices at Viacom and CBS have dropped by 47 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Investors have no idea who will manage the companies after Redstone dies, reports 12 News. Shareholders also filed a lawsuit against executives alleging that they were given excessive compensation packages that the elder Redstone approved while contributing little to managing Viacom and CBS.
Reuters reported that although Redstone was fully aware of his decisions when he replaced Herzer with Dauman, he suffered from a speech impairment. Lawyers of Herzer are planning to get Dauman for an interview, which is under oath, including Shari Redstone, who is against Dauman replacing her father as Viacom executive chairman.
Justices in California often issue tentative rulings, which are then concluded after a hearing with few major changes. Meanwhile, Redstone's health care trial is scheduled to begin May 6 and last several days.
