Brandon Heck Lawsuit | Kristin Heck Lawsuit | Defamation

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A few months after the lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom was filed, former franchisee Kristin Grasso Heck began posting what we believe to be highly defamatory comments about PBI and its officers online. Some of the posts have since been deleted by the Heck’s, but not before screenshots and video were collected by us.

The remarks we believe to be defamatory continued throughout the legal dispute with Matthews Ballroom and escalated in January 2019 when Kristin Grasso Heck’s husband Brandon Heck joined in on the attacks. Brandon Heck works in the “human capital“ department of Linden Capital Partners, a private equity firm based out of Chicago.

In May 2019, a joint lawsuit was filed against the Heck’s for defamation of character. The matter is an active case in Mecklenburg County. The lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom did not involve the Grasso/Hecks in any way. Grasso sold her franchise in mid-2016 for $90,000. It is unclear why she decided to get involved more than two years after she left the company.

In early 2020, the Heck‘s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case. The motion was denied and a court date has been set for early October 2020.

TIMELINE

• April 2018 - Lawsuit filed against Matthews Ballroom for nonpayment.
• June 1, 2018 - Matthews Ballroom franchise agreeements terminated due to persistent refusal to pay royalties.
• June 25, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck launched her first defamatory blog post, which was viewed by PB customers following her blog and social media channels. The blog was shared on Lisaney Kong’s social page with over 35,000 followers.
• August 1, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted her second defamatory blog article which was shared on social media by Matthews Ballroom’s Todd Liddell to numerous PB customers and franchisees.
• August 15, 2018 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted her third defamatory article centered around the false narrative that we committed crimes.
• January 22, 2019 - Kristin Grasso Heck posted a PB advertisement, referenced her blog and made disparaging comments about our company.
• January 23, 2019 - PB responded in a positive way, trying to remind Heck of the positive times and financial benefits she gained as a franchisee.
• January 23, 2019 - Brandon Heck publicly attacked us on social media making numerous false claims about our professional integrity and accusing us of committing fraud. PB deleted these posts. Kristin Heck reinstated them while further publicly sharing the Heck’s false narrative. Numerous PB customers and franchisees FOLLOWED HER LEAD and joined in on the defamatory comments.
• March 26, 2019 - The lawsuit with Matthews Ballroom commenced. PB was awarded financial damages. Matthews Ballroom counterclaims that we were guilty of deceptive business practices (fraud) were dismissed due to no evidence.
  

The timeline shows clear evidence that Kristin Grasso Heck began and heightened her defamatory comments about us in correlation to our lawsuit against Matthews Ballroom.

Kristin Grasso Heck was a first-time business owner who purchased the rights to use our brand and proprietary business model and who received our training and access to our confidential trade secrets.  It was a success by her own admission. This attack and smear campaign lacks any evidence and displays malicious intent.