Posted:
July 23, 2009
A federal judge has ordered John N. "Jack" Hearn and his American Maritime Officers Membership Committee (AMC) to pay some of the court costs arising from their unsuccessful civil lawsuit against several former and current AMO officials.
Ruling in United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge José Martinez affirmed a "report and recommendation" from United States Magistrate Judge Stephen T. Brown, who concluded recently that the "prevailing parties" in the case were due reimbursement from Hearn and the AMC for filing and other administrative fees, the cost of deposition and trial testimony transcripts and additional expenses associated with the civil case.
Judge Brown's order and its affirmation by Judge Martinez did not include the cost of attorneys retained at personal expense by the defendants -- AMO National President Thomas Bethel, AMO National Deep-Sea Vice President Joseph Gremelsbacker, AMO National Great Lakes Vice President Donald Cree, then-AMO National Assistant Vice President at Large Robert Kiefer, former AMO National Executive Vice President Daniel Smith and AMO National Executive Board Member Donald Nilsson.
Bethel, Gremelsbacker, Cree, Kiefer, Smith and Nilsson were found by the court to have committed no illegal, improper or inappropriate acts.
Nor did the order or the affirmation apply to legal costs incurred by American Maritime Officers (the union), which had been named by Hearn and the AMC as a defendant organization.
Hearn and the AMC -- Timothy Harkins, John Rousselle, Christopher Bartlett and Henry "Hank" Mallon -- brought the suit before Judge Martinez in February 2007, alleging breach of fiduciary responsibility and other wrongdoing in the current administration of American Maritime Officers.
In July 2008, Judge Martinez granted summary judgment dismissing most of the charges lodged by Hearn and the AMC.
Three months after the weeklong July 2008 trial, which included oral testimony and reams of documentary evidence, Judge Martinez dismissed the remaining charges against Bethel, Gremelsbacker, Cree, Kiefer, Smith and Nilsson.
An appeal by Hearn and the AMC is pending before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Bartlett and Mallon have withdrawn as plaintiffs in the civil case.
U.S. judge orders Hearn-AMC to pay some court costs in failed lawsuit; Order does not apply to expenses incurred by American Maritime Officers
A federal judge has ordered John N. "Jack" Hearn and his American Maritime Officers Membership Committee (AMC) to pay some of the court costs arising from their unsuccessful civil lawsuit against several former and current AMO officials.
Ruling in United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge José Martinez affirmed a "report and recommendation" from United States Magistrate Judge Stephen T. Brown, who concluded recently that the "prevailing parties" in the case were due reimbursement from Hearn and the AMC for filing and other administrative fees, the cost of deposition and trial testimony transcripts and additional expenses associated with the civil case.
Judge Brown's order and its affirmation by Judge Martinez did not include the cost of attorneys retained at personal expense by the defendants -- AMO National President Thomas Bethel, AMO National Deep-Sea Vice President Joseph Gremelsbacker, AMO National Great Lakes Vice President Donald Cree, then-AMO National Assistant Vice President at Large Robert Kiefer, former AMO National Executive Vice President Daniel Smith and AMO National Executive Board Member Donald Nilsson.
Bethel, Gremelsbacker, Cree, Kiefer, Smith and Nilsson were found by the court to have committed no illegal, improper or inappropriate acts.
Nor did the order or the affirmation apply to legal costs incurred by American Maritime Officers (the union), which had been named by Hearn and the AMC as a defendant organization.
Hearn and the AMC -- Timothy Harkins, John Rousselle, Christopher Bartlett and Henry "Hank" Mallon -- brought the suit before Judge Martinez in February 2007, alleging breach of fiduciary responsibility and other wrongdoing in the current administration of American Maritime Officers.
In July 2008, Judge Martinez granted summary judgment dismissing most of the charges lodged by Hearn and the AMC.
Three months after the weeklong July 2008 trial, which included oral testimony and reams of documentary evidence, Judge Martinez dismissed the remaining charges against Bethel, Gremelsbacker, Cree, Kiefer, Smith and Nilsson.
An appeal by Hearn and the AMC is pending before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Bartlett and Mallon have withdrawn as plaintiffs in the civil case.