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A major New York real estate developer—and onetime owner of a mansion dubbed the “Taj Mahal of Long Island”—is being sued by his 44-year-old son, who claims he was pushed out of the family business after a jealous office rival managed to drive a wedge between them.
Scott Burman says the already “frosty” relationship between him and his father, Jan Burman, was damaged even further by a partner at the firm angling for his job, according to a $14 million lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast. The complaint says the man was envious of Scott’s success and became especially upset when Scott was designated Jan’s successor at Engel Burman, the firm Jan started in 1999.
After the rival convinced Jan that Scott and his wife “failed to spend enough time with him or properly acknowledge his role as family patriarch,” the real-life Shakespearean drama culminated with Scott being shunted aside last fall, by way of Jan starting a new company behind his back, according to the complaint.