Key Takeaways
- AriZona Iced Tea co-founder John Ferolito wants a judge to remove former massage therapist and personal assistant Fayssanya “Fay” Pratt from a Florida house, arguing that she could live there only while she worked for him.
- Pratt says Ferolito promised her the property, citing a recorded message that said, “We will sign the house over to you,” and claims she paid its taxes and nearly $100,000 for repairs and improvements.
- Ferolito denies promising her ownership and characterizes her payments as rent, while Pratt seeks the title, damages, and a jury trial ahead of a November 23 summary-judgment hearing.
A house bought by AriZona Iced Tea co-founder John Ferolito has become the center of a court fight with his former massage therapist and personal assistant. Fayssanya “Fay” Pratt says he promised to give her the Coral Springs, Florida, property. Ferolito says she was allowed to live there only while she worked for him. Now he is asking a judge to remove her from the home she has occupied with her children since 2018.
Ferolito purchased the four-bedroom house through a trust for $493,736 after a flood damaged Pratt’s previous home, according to The New York Post. Pratt says she chose the property believing he would eventually transfer the deed to her.
Ferolito denies making that promise. He says the house was an investment property and Pratt’s right to live there depended on her employment.
AriZona launched in New York in 1992, despite its Southwestern name. Ferolito co-founded the beverage business with Don Vultaggio, but he is a former owner; Vultaggio remains the face of the company and its famously priced 99-cent Big Can. That price has stayed central to the brand’s identity for more than three decades.
Pratt worked for Ferolito for more than 20 years, providing massages and helping with tasks at his home. She claims that she paid property taxes and spent close to $100,000 on repairs and improvements because she believed the house would be hers.
She also points to a recorded 2022 call in which Ferolito’s assistant, while telling Pratt she had been fired, said he had asked her to pass along this message: “We will sign the house over to you.”
Ferolito’s attorneys argue that the recording is inadmissible because the assistant did not consent to it.
Ferolito’s September 14 motion offers a different reading of Pratt’s payments. His attorneys cite cashier’s checks marked “2019 RENT” and “Rent 2020” as evidence that she was reimbursing the trust for property taxes in place of conventional rent. They also cite a proposed lease setting rent at $1 a month.
Pratt says she never signed that lease and disputes that the payments made her a tenant. She is seeking title to the house, damages, and a jury trial.
Ferolito’s trust sued to remove Pratt after her employment ended; her ownership claims followed in the same dispute. She remains in the home while the case continues.
The immediate question is whether the judge will grant Ferolito’s request for summary judgment, which could resolve key claims in the dispute without a trial. A hearing is scheduled for November 23.
