During divorce discovery, some intimate details about a couple’s life may at first seem irrelevant but could nonetheless be important to the case. Otherwise private information that spouses know (or purport to know) about one another may be important as a means of ensuring fair distribution of assets and debt.
Unfortunately, high-profile divorces sometimes involve the “airing of dirty laundry” as these intimate details make their way into the press. A good example of this is a strong allegation made in the divorce case of Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO and founder of the Greek yogurt company Chobani.
Ulukaya was born in Turkey but immigrated to the United States, where he eventually became a billionaire after launching Chobani in 2005. According to a court filing containing allegations from his ex-wife, however, Ulukaya essentially stole the recipe for his famous yogurt from a competitor.
The ex-wife alleges that Ulukaya bribed the former employee of a competing brand to give him the recipe for that company’s yogurt. Since 2012, the former couple has been locked in an ongoing legal dispute. Ulukaya’s ex-wife has said she has been denied a rightful stake in the company. Ulukaya denies the allegations and says that his ex-wife is making “baseless” claims.
As an outside observer, it is difficult to ascertain who is telling the truth and who is lying. But assuming that the ex-wife is telling the truth, her allegations could demonstrate that her ex-husband is dishonest in business and could therefore have been dishonest in aspects of their marriage.
In any case, this is a legal battle that may continue for quite some time.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Chobani Founder Accused By Ex-Wife Of Stealing Fage’s Yogurt Recipe,” April 4, 2014