A prominent Manhattan real estate family is playing out its own War of the Roses — with the father-in-law taking revenge against his son-in-law for leaving his daughter by cutting him out of lucrative deals and hijacking his personal emails for ammunition in the couple’s matrimonial battle, according to a scathing new lawsuit.
The family feud pits real estate honcho Marshall Rose of The Georgetown Company against his son-in-law, former Department of City Planning Commissioner Joe Rose. (The men are not related by blood.)
The Yale University grad married Marshall’s daughter Wendi at an East Hampton ceremony in 1996.
They had the seemingly perfect marriage, much like Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner’s characters in the 1989 divorce drama “The War of the Roses,” raising two children and frequenting the city’s charity circuit.
Joe served under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani from 1993 to 2002 and then went to work for his father-in-law’s Madison Avenue real estate company.
At first Marshall, 77, welcomed Joe, 54, with open arms, the suit says, “because of his noteworthy experience, exceptional credentials and comprehensive contacts in the real estate industry.”
But when Joe and Wendi split in 2010, Marshall, who married actress Candice Bergen after Wendi’s mother died, allegedly schemed to make his son-in-law’s life a living hell, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
“Rather than seeking to promote the financial interests of the company, Rose used the company as a vehicle to settle his own personal and familial scores with” his son-in-law, the suit says.
Marshall, meanwhile, points to a ruling Tuesday by a Manhattan judge that quashed Joseph’s attempt to immediately order his father-law to play nice.
“The court ruled yesterday against the efforts of Joseph Rose to obtain preliminary relief in connection with his baseless claims, finding that Joseph Rose is unlikely to succeed,” said Marshall’s spokesman, Davidson Goldin, in a statement.
“We are saddened that Joseph Rose seeks to entangle his soon-to-be ex-father-in-law and the business that Marshall Rose built over 40 years in an unrelated divorce.”
Joe’s lawsuit claims Marshall unilaterally slashed his ownership interest in the business from 22 to .01 percent, cut him out of a $19.5 million Four Seasons Hotel deal in D.C., and even “intentionally disseminated” his personal and business emails “to outside parties for use by Rose’s daughter and her representatives in connection with divorce settlement negotiations.”
The moves violate Joe’s employment contract, he says in the filing.
When Joe filed for divorce earlier this year– asking for joint custody of the kids and exclusive use of their Hamptons home– Marshall retaliated by firing Joe in a terse, hand-delivered letter on April 22, according to legal papers.
Wendi’s attorney, Alton Abramowitz, told The Post, “My client would like to state clearly that this is a private matter as far as she is concerned. She and hopefully her husband are trying to do their best to bring this to a fair and amicable resolution that will protect their children and themselves.”
Joe wants a judge to reinstate him to his role in the company. The Georgetown Company has been involved in some of the city’s most iconic development projects from Frank Gehry’s InterActiveCorp’s West Chelsea building to the restoration of the main branch of the New York Public Library.
He’s also seeking unspecified money damages.