Los Angeles Chargers owner is sued by his sister in a legal battle for control of the franchise

By Kevin Dotson, CNN

Updated 0557 GMT (1357 HKT) June 11, 2022

Dean Spanos, seen here in 2021, is being sued by his sister who co-owns the Chargers franchise

(CNN)Los Angeles Chargers owner and chairman Dean Spanos is being sued by his sister and team co-owner Dea Spanos Berberian, who's accusing him of «misogynistic» behavior and repeated «breaches of fiduciary duty» in his role as controlling owner of the NFL franchise.

Berberian seeks sole control of the family trust that owns the largest share of the franchise, according to a petition filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court. Following the deaths of their parents in 2018, Spanos and Berberian were named co-trustees of the trust, which holds a 36% ownership stake in the team, court filings show. Spanos, Berberian and their two other siblings — team vice chairman Michael Spanos and Alexis Spanos Ruhl — each individually own 15% of the Chargers. The four siblings are equal beneficiaries of the family trust, according to court documents.The remaining 4% of the franchise is owned by other parties outside of the Spanos family.Anime, ice sculpting and Buffalo wings: NFL teams get creative as 2022 season schedule is releasedRead MoreIn her lawsuit, Berberian alleges that Dean Spanos and brother Michael have acted against their parents' wishes «out of their deeply-held misogynistic attitudes and sense of entitlement as the men in the family» in order to «teach her that a woman has no rights.»She also accuses her brothers of fiduciary mismanagement that has left the Spanos family trust with more than $358 million of debt as of the end of 2021, the lawsuit shows. Berberian points to one instance where she said financials were manipulated to borrow more than $60 million for the