Sharon Burke denies doing business with H&L

Artiste manager and promoter Sharon Burke is denying crediting and failing to settle a debt for nearly $7 million worth of goods from Hardware & Lumber (H&L) for supplies used in the August 2023 staging of the Chris Brown and Friends Concert in Kingston.

The businesswoman is instead contending that the goods were purchased by Solid View Limited, a company in which she admitted she was a director.

Burke and Solid View Limited, which the hardware company is contending is owned by Burke, are both being sued for breach of contract.

In the suit filed on August 2, 2024 in the Supreme Court, the company is contending that the supplies purchased amounted to $6,908,927.82, of which only $1,221,000 was paid by Burke, leaving a balance of $5,687,827.82.

It further contends that the defendants’ delinquency, whether jointly and/or severally, has caused the hardware company to incur administrative/recovery charges totalling $1,137,585.56, which it is aslo seeking to recover after being unable to successfully settle the matter.

The claimant is also suing the defendants for interest at one per cent above the commercial bank lending rate from December 2023 to the date of payment and/or the judgment.

Burke said she was surprised and blindsided by the lawsuit.

“The events in question transpired between Solid View Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Jamaica, and Hardware and Lumber. Solid View Limited is therefore its own legal entity with its own directors,” she said in a statement to The Gleaner.

She insisted further that she was not the owner of Solid View and that the company was formed just for the event.

Additionally, her attorney-at-law, Isat Buchanan, said, “My client is very surprised that she is even named in this suit because it’s the company, Solid View Limited, that did business with the hardware.”

Further, Buchanan said: “They still have not said to Ms Burke who they delivered the goods to, and while she will assist in any capacity and she has to defend the claim, we are surprised that she was named.”

BORDERLINE DEFAMATORY

Buchanan said his client has not yet been personally served with the claim, which he described as “borderline defamatory”.

While noting that he could not respond to all that was said in the claim, the attorney said his instruction is that his client did not pay any money to the hardware and that proof will have to be produced.

According to the particulars of the claim, Burke notified the hardware company in August 2023 of her intent to obtain goods for the stage show, which would be held on August 27.

On or about August 17, 2023, Burke completed a cash-on-delivery form after identifying herself as the customer for the transaction for Solid View Limited, it added.

The supplies were subsequently dispatched to the claimant between August 17 and 18, 2023.

It further said that Burke and the hardware store had agreed that the purchase was solely a cash transaction and not a credit transaction. However, the goods were delivered without full payment.

The businesswoman had reportedly personally guaranteed that the outstanding sums would be paid without undue delay, but expressed urgency in receiving the hardware supplies in preparation for the event, which was widely anticipated and well supported, according to the legal document.

As a result, the hardware company acceded to her request for urgent delivery.

However, the court documents revealed, the defendants failed to complete payment for the goods despite numerous requests via telephone and otherwise.

The claimant also wrote to Burke via email on December 13, 2023, to make a formal demand for the outstanding balance, the document said.

Failing to achieve any successful action on the matter, the proprietors of the hardware company took the matter to court.

Attorney-at-law Mark-Paul Cowan of Nunes, Scholefield, DeLeon & Company is representing the claimant.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com