The Voice - March 11, 2009 VOLUME 8 ISSUE 10

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In This Issue And The Defense Wins

Legal News In a three-week jury trial before Judge Ana Gardiner in Broward
This Week's County, Florida, DRI members Philip Ward, Roland
Feature Schwartz and Jeffrey Kuntz of Gray Robinson, P.A. in Fort
Lauderdale successfully represented a client in a 2002 case
DRI News raising claims of retaliatory discharge and tortious interference.
And The
Defense Wins! The plaintiff wore a wire for the Department of Labor and
Department of Justice and recorded more than 200
Legislative
conversations that eventually led to the 2007 conviction of
Tracking
several former officials of the client and a non-party. The plaintiff
Quote of the alleged that his termination in 2000 occurred as retaliation when
Week it was discovered he was cooperating with the government.
DRI Cares
DRI CLE The defense presented evidence establishing that the plaintiff
Calendar was the co-creator of the criminal conspiracy, that he only
cooperated with the government after the government was
closing in on the illegal operation, that the plaintiff refused to
Links
cooperate in an internal investigation into the illegal acts and
About DRI that the plaintiff's termination was justified, based upon his
illegal conduct.
Annual Meeting
On January 28, 2009, the jury concluded that the client was not
Membership liable for the termination.

Membership Directory The plaintiff has filed numerous other lawsuits against the client
since his termination, including alleged violations of the federal
News and Events Major Fraud Act, the federal False Claims Act, the ERISA
Whistleblower Act, the federal RICO Act, the Florida RICO Act,
CLE Seminars and
and defamation. He has sought between $5,000,000 and
Events $178,000,000 in the various lawsuits. The team has now
successfully defended the client in each of the lawsuits. The
Publications team had previously prevailed with prejudice on a motion to
dismiss in another state case, won the federal ERISA case,
DRI Europe Merriken v. Am. Maritime Off. Vacation Plan, et al, 08-60687,
2008 WL 4899126 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 29, 2008), and prevailed on
The Alliance ERISA preemption grounds in Florida's Fourth District Court of
Appeal Am. Maritime Off. Union v. Merriken, 981 So. 2d 544
Archive (Fla. 4th DCA 2008).

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