According to the conditions of the settlement, the Sonics' name and colors could not be used by the team in Oklahoma City, but could be taken by a future team in Seattle, although no promises for a replacement team were given. The Oklahoma City team would retain the franchise history of the SuperSonics, which could be "shared" with any future NBA team in Seattle. The team moved to Oklahoma City immediately and announced it would begin play in the 2008–09 season. The release of email conversations between members of Bennett's group prompted former Sonics' owner Howard Schultz to file a lawsuit that sought to rescind the sale of the team and alleged that Bennett's group used fraud and misrepresentation to purchase the Sonics without making a "good faith best effort" to keep them in Seattle as mandated by the original sales contract. Bennett said the emails were misinterpreted and that he had spent millions of dollars in attempting to keep the team in Seattle. The lawsuit was filed on April 22, 2008 at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. It sought, among other things, an injunction to prevent the Sonics from being relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City. The suit further requested that the franchise be placed in a constructive trust and no longer in the ownership of PBC. On May 20, 2008, Schultz's attorney added alleged a breach of contract as a third cause of action against Bennett. Chicago-based attorney and ESPN senior writer Lester Munson said that while the remedies Schultz sought were "without precedent in the sports industry", he did believe that both the Schultz case and Seattle's lease case presented "serious problems" for Bennett. On May 9, 2008, Oklahoma City officials declared intent to sue for damages and a forced relocation of the SuperSonics if Schultz's lawsuit succeeded and the subsequent ownership did not relocate. In a legal letter to Schultz, Oklahoma City's attorney said that the Sonics were legally bound to relocate to Oklahoma City at the end of the KeyArena lease regardless of who owned the team. The letter stated that the city had "valid and enforceable agreements with the Team requiring it relocate to Oklahoma City at the end of the current lease with the city of Seattle." Schultz's attorney replied to the letter saying the lease agreement was with PBC, not BCOS, and that the city began improvements on Ford Center at their own risk prior to conclusion of the pending litigation. The NBA filed a motion to intervene with Seattle's federal court on July 9, 2008, claiming that Schultz's lawsuit would interfere with the stable operation of the franchise and the transfer of ownership would violate NBA regulations unless the team was put under control of NBA Commissioner David Stern.