Dish Network Chairman Charles Ergen scored a big win this month in the bankruptcy of wireless venture LightSquared, but the judge who delivered the ruling also had some harsh words for Ergen, and they could come back to haunt the chairman in a separate lawsuit in Nevada, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman nixed LightSquared's proposed chapter 11 exit plan, which would have pushed Ergen behind other creditors. LightSquared had sued Ergen, accusing him of scheming to improperly take control of LightSquared by secretly acquiring its loans. Judge Chapman ruled only a piece of Ergen's debt deserved to be altered, so the restructuring plan was unfair. That should give Ergen leverage in negotiations on a new deal to restructure LightSquared, which is majority owned by Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners. But Ergen may have a harder time in a Nevada lawsuit, where shareholders claim he breached his fiduciary duty by amassing LightSquared debt on his own behalf, rather than letting Dish make a play for the company. The shareholders are seeking damages from Ergen and other Dish directors, saying the chairman's actions ultimately cost Dish a deal.
