Garth Brooks suing longtime employee

NASHVILLE, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. country musician Garth Brooks sued a longtime former employee for failing to repay a loan she said was given to her as a gift.

The trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, the (Nashville) Tennessean reported Friday.

The complaint says the chief executive officer of Brooks' movie and television production company Red Strokes, Lisa A. Sanderson, failed to repay $226,000 Brooks loaned her between 2005 and 2007.

Sanderson said the money was a gift and that as a producing partner at Red Strokes, she was entitled to a production fee as well as a severance or retirement payment.

The $226,000 was given to Sanderson through Red Strokes, which is suing her for repayment of the funds in addition to interest, attorney's fees and costs of collection, the lawsuit says.