Marvel Entertainment CEO, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, is seeking punitive damages against Chubb Insurance for allegedly orchestrating a theft of his DNA during a deposition.
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Perlmutter and his wife Laura allege an in-house lawyer for a Chubb subsidiary subpoenaed them to to a deposition with the aim of secretly collecting their genetic material. The intended use of the DNA was to help bolster claims that the couple were behind a hate mail campaign targeting their Miami neighbor, Toronto businessman Harold Peerenboom.
During the deposition, the Perlmutters were offered water bottles as they inspected exhibits relevant to the case. According to the Perlmutter’s motion to assert punitive damages, DNA from those items was collected and sent for testing.
A Florida judge then allowed the couple to pursue a stolen DNA claim in January 2017.
The Perlmutters and Peerenboom, founder of executive search firm Mandrake Management, both live in a posh oceanfront complex in Palm Beach known as Sloan’s Curve. Earlier reporting by the Toronto Sun and the Hollywood Reporter supplied particulars of the dispute between neighbors.
The dispute began when Peerenboom proposed competitive bidding on a contract to operate tennis facilities at Sloan’s Curve. The tennis professional who oversaw the facilities claimed Peerenboom defamed her in mailings and sued for damages as well.
Federal Insurance Co., the Chubb subsidiary, defended Peerenboom on the defamation claim.
The Marvel CEO argued the tennis pro who oversaw the facilities should not be replaced, and Peerenboom accused him of funding the tennis pro’s lawsuit.
Peerenboom alleges an anonymous hate mail campaign followed. Letters were sent to Peerenboom’s friends and associates accusing him of “loathsome crimes,” including murder and sexual assault of a minor, he said in court documents. Thinking the Perlmutters were to blame, he filed a defamation suit against them. Perlmutter then countersued for the alleged DNA theft.
Peerenboom claims in-house lawyer William Douberley came up with the idea to collect the DNA from the paperwork and water bottles. Marc Kasowitz, an attorney for Peerenboom, told the Hollywood Reporter that police were informed of the plan to collect DNA and they did not object.
According to a prior report by the New York Times, Peerenboom’s leal team claimed the DNA test implicated Perlmutter’s wife. However, Perlmutter alleges the first test was exculpatory, and the results were manipulated during a second interpretation.
A separate court filing has also raised suspicions about a different individual, a fired employee at Mandrake, the Toronto Sun reported.
The filing states the fired employee used a fake name to ship a package to Miami with a warning for Peerenboom: Letters would be sent to prisoners accusing him of child molestation unless he leaves Palm Beach. Perlmutter says he has now been exonerated on the charges.
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