Litigation

Caperton Sues Massey, Again

By Peter Hardin

Is there another round of Caperton v. Massey litigation ahead?

That appears to be the case. This sequel involves primarily a business dispute between Hugh Caperton and Massey Coal Co., and not the issue of a judge disqualifying himself from a case involving a major political backer, as did the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling by the same name in 2009. In his new lawsuit, Caperton accuses Massey of “attempting to buy justice” in  West Virginia’s highest court.

Caperton said he sued Massey today in Buchanan County, Va. courts, seeking $45 million in damages. A copy of the lawsuit said it contained “substantially identical” claims to those brought by Caperton and others in Boone County, W.Va. in 1998, alleging that Massey employed fraudulent business practices to destroy Caperton’s firm. A  jury agreed in 2002 and awarded a $50 million verdict in favor of Caperton’s company, Harman Mining.

On three occasions the West Virginia Supreme Court has voted to overturn that jury verdict. In November 2009 the court issued its ruling (see Gavel Grab) after Justice Brent Benjamin had recused himself due to a U.S. Supreme Court victory for Caperton.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that excessive campaign spending in a judicial election could force elected judges to step aside from some cases involving campaign supporters. Massey Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship of Massey had spent $3 million to help Benjamin win election.

According to the latest Caperton lawsuit, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Caperton’s legal claims could be heard only in Buchanan County, Va. Among its allegations, the lawsuit  accuses Massey of “attempting to buy justice in the Supreme Court of West Virginia,” and it alludes to Blankenship and another justice,  Elliott “Spike” Maynard, vacationing together in the Kingdom of Monaco (in photo above, Blankenship is at right, Maynard at left).

You can learn more about that episode, and Justice Maynard’s defeat by voters, from Gavel Grab. He lost a primary in May 2008. More recently Maynard lost a bid for the House of Representatives against an incumbent Democrat.

Full post as published by The Gavel on November 09, 2010 (boomark / email).