Sarah Hyland's Former Manager Accuses Her of Denying Him Modern Family Royalties

Sarah Hyland's former manager is taking legal action. 

The Modern Family alum's former manager Richard Konigsberg filed a lawsuit Sept. 30, alleging she fired him earlier this year after 15 years to avoid paying him 10 percent of all the money she made during their time working together. 

Konigsberg claims in the suit, obtained by E! News, that his role as Hyland's manager went beyond the typical description of helping build a client's career as he "met Hyland's business and personal needs, doing everything from introducing her to talent agents and business managers and publicists, to planning her private events and helping her navigate personal and familial relationships."

E! News has reached out to reps for both Hyland and Konigsberg but has not heard back.

According to Konigsberg's lawsuit, he and Hyland met in 2008 when he agreed to help her as she moved from New York to Los Angeles to further her acting career. Around "January or February 2009, Konigsberg and [Hyland] entered into an oral agreement providing that Konigsberg would provide personal and professional management services to [her] in exchange for a 10% commission on all projects sourced while the parties worked together."

For 15 years, Konigsberg had been receiving 10 percent of the 33-year-old's professional earnings, including on residuals from her Modern Family role, which she booked in 2009 while the two were working together. However, beginning in February 2024, he claims she "breached the oral agreement" by not paying him what he believes he was due.

In the suit, Konigsberg claims that Hyland subsequently fired him in April 2024, saying that he was "not entitled to any further commissions for projects sourced during their time together," with the exception being the fee she earned from her recent role as Audrey in the off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors.

Konigsberg suit's asks for damage payments from Hyland, as well as 10 percent of any "business deals or arrangements" that were made between January 2009 and April 2024—including Modern Family residuals, her payments from Little Shop of Horrors and her upcoming film The Token Groomsman, as well her partnership with the supplement company Sourse Inc. "until the death of Konigsberg or [Hyland], whichever is first." 

He is also asking for Hyland—who is married to Bachelor Nation's Wells Adams—to cover the cost of the suit and any other payments the court "deems proper."

Detailing their formerly close dynamic, Konigsberg said Hyland trusted his judgment, and he went above and beyond for her during their time together, helping her with "matters of all types in her personal life-finding her a dentist, a housecleaner, and even a roommate." He added that he also threw her a 24th birthday party in 2014.

"In short," the suit continued, "Konigsberg worked tirelessly to be there for Hyland in whatever way she needed in her personal and professional lives."

Hyland has yet to speak out publicly on the lawsuit.