Suit says Phila. Soul partners owe nearly $125,000

"Have a nice day" was not exactly what Jon Bon Jovi said to the former sales manager of the Philadelphia Soul, who alleges that the rock icon and his partners in the Arena Football League team have not paid him nearly $125,000 in wages and commissions.

Joseph Krause of Jenkintown claims in his Common Pleas Court filing that at a meeting in late December, Bon Jovi and other team officials told employees that the team was shutting down and that they would be paid two weeks' severance. The suit says Bon Jovi sarcastically remarked, "If you see us on the street begging for food, please give us a hand."

Krause alleges he was owed $83,359 in commission for the previous season and $41,456 in commission for the canceled '09 season. He said was told that the Soul would not pay him those commissions.

When he protested, he was told he would be given a check for $5,000 if he relinquished further claims, according to the suit. When he declined, he was told he would get nothing, the suit alleges.

Also named in the complaint are Craig Spencer, the team's coowner; Leo Carlin Jr., a member of the ownership group, and Paul Korzilius, the team's interim general manager.

Neither Bon Jovi nor the other named officials with the Soul could be reached for comment. Jeffrey Braff, an attorney representing the Soul, did not return a call and e-mail for comment.

The Soul sold nearly $3.2 million in tickets on its way to the league championship last season, according to financial statements quoted in the suit, which was filed Jan. 9 by George Bochetto of Bochetto & Lentz.

Krause says in his suit that when he joined the team in early 2007, its sales were below $2 million.

The suit said the defendants "worked off the . . . Soul's success to promote themselves in all of their many other business, financial and cultural enterprises, and in establishing (in the case of Spencer) and sustaining (in the case of Bon Jovi) themselves as celebrities."

The Arena Football League announced on Dec. 15 that the 2009 season would be suspended as the league develops a long-term plan to improve its economic model.

The Soul announced on its Web site that it would mail refund checks to season ticket-holders next Wednesday.