NEWARK — The former president of the Prudential Center sued the Devils' Lou Lamoriello Thursday claiming the general manager regularly cursed and disparaged him, jeopardizing his livelihood.

Richard Krezwick, the former president of Devils Arena Entertainment, claims in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, that Lamoriello’s criticism cost him the $2.25 million he would have made under the new ownership team. Devils Arena Entertainment operates the Prudential Center and is the parent company of the New Jersey Devils.

He claims Lamoriello bridled at the decision by then-Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek to give Krezwick responsibility for the team's business operations when he hired him in 2009, relegating Lamoriello to the hockey side.

“Because Krezwick assumed Lamoriello’s former business responsibilities, Lamoriello harbored ill will toward Krezwick and treated Krezwick as his nemesis throughout the rest of Plaintiff’s tenure with DAE (Devils Arena Entertainment),” the lawsuit says.

Michael Levine, the Devils senior vice president for communications, declined to comment today.

A series of weekly sitdowns in the fall of 2011 between Vanderbeek, Lamoriello and Krezwick did little to soothe tensions between the men, the lawsuit alleges.

“The meetings continued to occur and grow more acrimonious for several months, until the final meeting when Lamoriello launched into a vulgarity-laced personal attack on Krezwick,” the lawsuit states. “Lamoriello then abruptly left the room and refused to resume that meeting or take part in any future meetings.”

New Jersey Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello is facing a lawsuit filed against him by Richard Krezwick, the former president of the Prudential Center.

The following year Lamoriello, who also holds the title of team president, threatened not to renew his own contract if Krezwick was offered a new deal, the lawsuit adds.

In July 2012, Krezwick was offered a four-year deal worth more than $700,000 a year to take over as president and chief executive officer of MetLife Stadium where the Jets and Giants play, the lawsuit says.

He said he turned down the offer when Vanderbeek promised him a multi-year contract once the refinancing of Devils Arena Entertainment was complete.

In the spring of 2013, the lawsuit claims, Vanderbeek was close to finalizing a deal to sell the team to Philadelphia attorney Andy Barroway.

Krezwick said Lamoreillo “disparaged Krezwick’s professional competence” during a meeting with a Barroway consultant.

And, the lawsuit says, Lamoriello’s badmouthing extended to NHL executives “jeopardizing his potential for future employment with other NHL clubs.”

The team was sold to Joshua Harris and David Blitzer in August 2013 at a time when the team's finances were in disarray. In the months leading up to the sale, the Devils had been sued by several of its contractors for millions of dollars in unpaid bills, the Star-Ledger reported at the time.

On Aug. 15, 2013, Krezwick and his staff of 100 people were summoned to a meeting with the new ownership team, the lawsuit says. There, Krezwick found out he was being replaced when someone else was introduced as the head of business operations, the title he held at the time, the lawsuit adds.

“Krezwick then realized that he was being fired in front of his staff without any prior warning,” his lawyer, Robert Mellman of Upper Montclair, writes in the lawsuit.

Krezwick said the Devils’ new CEO, Scott O’Neil, apologized for how his termination was handled.

Several weeks after Krezwick learned he would be let go, several of his senior managers were fired by the Devils, the lawsuit says.

“Lamoriello physically positioned himself in a chair at the base of the employee elevator of the arena so that he could watch these individuals pass by with their boxes of personal belongings in order to leave the building directly after they were fired and to laugh as they passed by, as to take credit for their firing,” the lawsuit adds.

Krezwick remained with the team as a consultant through September 2013. He is currently living in London and lists himself as senior vice president for facilities for AEG Europe on his Twitter account.

The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $2.39 million for Lamoriello’s alleged interference in his prospective contract as well as an order restraining Lamoriello from “impugning Krezwick’s professional reputation and interfering in present and prosective contractual relationships.”

Thomas Zambito may be reached at tzambito@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomZambito. Find NJ.com on Facebook.