By Matthew Belloni
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The South Carolina real estate broker who starred in the first season of A&E's "Flip This House" has won another legal round against the network.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with Richard C. Davis, who originally sued for half the revenue from the hit reality show in 2006.
His suit for breach of contract and fraud claimed he had agreed orally with the network to share net revenue 50-50 in exchange for developing and appearing on the show. Davis, a real estate broker with a specialty in house-flipping, claimed he brought A&E the idea for the show, which became popular when it premiered in 2006 at the height of the real estate bubble.
In 2008, a federal jury in Charleston, S.C., found that Davis had created an oral contract with A&E executive Charles Nordlander, even though the terms were not formally memorialized in a written deal. It awarded Davis $4 million in damages for his share of revenue from the first of the series' four seasons. (Davis starred on the initial cycle but left amid the dispute over his compensation, eventually producing a similar show, "The Real Estate Pros," for A&E rival TLC.)
At the time of the jury decision, A&E said it intended to "follow the appropriate procedures to have the verdict reversed." But the Fourth Circuit on Monday upheld the jury verdict enforcing the oral agreement between Davis and A&E.
A&E did not respond to a request for comment.