Breatheology Founder Stig Severinsen has filed a lawsuit against Danish company Airofit A/S, citing breach of contract.
The complaint, filed last month with the City Court of Copenhagen, alleges that Airofit — which developed a breathing trainer and associated smartphone app — has reneged on its commitment to provide Severinsen with an ownership stake in Airofit.
The legal claim alleges Airofit A/S, its CEO and board of directors are in breach of contract and substantial unauthorized use of Severinsen’s name, brand and reputation for commercial gain, breaching Danish contract law.
The agreement, according to Breatheology, was originally formed in a “Letter of Intent” and subsequently approved and ratified in a resolution by Airofit’s board of directors. During the pandemic, however, the processing of the share transfer was delayed, and eventually, on February 15th, lawyers from Airofit contacted Severinsen and his team saying that the shares “were gone.”
According to Severinsen:
“This was so unexpected, and I was completely shocked. This goes against everything I believe in; the trust I had in Airofit, its management, and its board of directors.
“We simply cannot stand by idly and allow Airofit to reap the fruits of our efforts and continue using our celebrity, intellectual property, and our resources to their benefit, without upholding their agreed-upon terms. It’s beyond unethical.”
Airofit A/S has denied the allegations.
Entering into a binding agreement to support the business development efforts of Airofit in exchange for an ownership stake, Severinsen said he not only leveraged the credibility of his personal and corporate brands to promote Airofit, but also embedded specialists from his own team within Airofit in order to launch sales on a large scale. Over the last year, several key members have been hired from Breatheology into Airofit.
Severinsen said:
“I was OK with my team members joining Airofit since we had a binding agreement and I felt like I was already a shareholder in the company. I was also fine with Airofit benefitting from my name, even investing my own money towards making Airofit a success, along with endorsements, producing viral videos gaining millions of views, and numerous press activities. Our work has been instrumental in the recent growth of Airofit.”
Since the lawsuit’s filing, Aerofit asked for a two-week delay in the proceedings, to which Breatheology lawyers responded last week:
“The parties have corresponded in the case since 15 February 2021, when Airofit A/S terminated the cooperation, and the plaintiffs therefore expect that in continuation of the day’s postponement of Airofit A/S’ time limit, there is no need for further postponements of the deadline for the defense, not least as a result of Airofit A/S being fully aware of the facts of the case.”
The Danish court is scheduled to hear opening arguments on May 19th.
