Highland Capital Management LP sued Muirfield Capital Management LLC and its president Geoffrey Stern for "falsely" accusing it of criminal activity in an article in The Wall Street Journal.

The complaint cites an article published in October in which Stern referred to Highland Capital taking about $30 million fee out of its Crusader fund by saying, "they just took our money." The complaint said Stern's assertion that Highland took clients' money is "false and defamatory."

The complaint stressed that the money in question belonged to the company and not to fund investors.

Highland Capital said the accusation damaged its "business reputation and goodwill" and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and a court order barring Stern from making similar statements in the future.

The complaint was filed in the New York State Supreme Court.