Dean Spanos sued by sister, accused of 'misogynistic' behavior as legal battle continues over control of Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos has been accused of «misogynistic» behavior, «self-dealing» and repeated «breaches of fiduciary duty» by his sister in a lawsuit that escalates the siblings' ongoing legal battle over control of the team.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Joaquin County Superior Court by attorneys representing Dea Spanos Berberian, who is seeking sole control of a family trust that constitutes more than one-third of the Chargers' ownership. The suit also asks the court to suspend and remove Spanos as a co-trustee and seeks unspecified financial damages awarded to Berberian.

Spanos, Berberian and their siblings Michael Spanos and Alexandra Spanos Ruhl each own 15% of the Chargers franchise, with 36% managed by the family trust and the remaining 4% owned by non-family members.

Spanos and Berberian were left as co-trustees of the trust following the deaths of Alex and Faye Spanos in 2018.

Berberian accuses her brothers Dean and Michael of repeatedly acting «out of their deeply-held misogynistic attitudes and sense of entitlement as the men in the family… and to rationalize their pitiable behavior which she believes is intended to teach her that a woman has no rights, no matter what any trust instrument might say.» The lawsuit also states that Dean and Michael «believe to their cores that, regardless of what their parents intended and their wills specified, men are in charge and women should shut up.»

Berberian contends that the Spanos Family Trusts are all but insolvent, that Spanos' decision to move the Chargers to Los Angeles has proved financially ruinous and that the family has no option but to sell the team in order to satisfy the trust's debt obligations, which she says are currently in