Sears sues CEO Eddie Lampert for 'thefts' of company assets

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This year, the company was able to sell a portion of the assets of this market, keeping a portion of the retailer alive as a new, separate company. The shell of the company is now coming after Lampert seeking funds to partial repay creditors who were owed money by Sears at the time of its bankruptcy filing.

"As Sears was sliding into bankruptcy," Eddie Lampert, "Transferring Trillions of the Company's Assets … for Grossly Unfavorable Considerations," according to the Federal Lawsuit, which was filed Thursday. "This complaint is brought to make Sears whole for these thefts of its assets."

The following names are ESL, the hedge fund, and Lampert controls, as well as Lampert, as defenders. It also names Steven Mnuchin, Lampert's College and Member of the Sears Board of Directors before becoming US Treasury Secretary. Other executives and directors of the pre-bankruptcy Sears are also named.

Mnuchin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the following.

The following claims have been made to the effect that Lampert conducted while he was the CEO of Sears Holdings were for his and ESL's advantage, rather than in the best interest of the company.

The following points to the sale of real estate firm Seritage Growth Properties (GIS), which counted Lampert and ESL as investors. Those stores were then released to Sears or closed to the properties.
Other Sears assets that were sold off include Lands' End (THE), Orchard Supply Hardware Stores, and Hometown Sears and Outlet Stores (SHOS). Lampert became a major shareholder in all those spinoffs.

In a statement, ESL defended the transactions and dismissed the claims made in the lawsuit. It said the following "allegations are misleading or just flat wrong."

It said it was going to be used to keep things going.

"ESL was a constant source of financing for Sears Holdings over many years," the firm said. "All transactions were done in good faith, we are fair, we are confident that the processes we follow are unimpeachable."

The committee of creditors in the Sears bankruptcy case made an argument during the bankruptcy process that was similar to the one made in the market.

The new follows is not a surprise, said those earlier arguments, said Josh Friedman, head of restructuring data at Debtwire. But he cautioned, "these lawsuits tend to be uphill battles."

CNN's Donna Borak contributed to this report.

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