Monday, June 28, 2021

PUBLISHED: Romero v. Gold Star Distribution LLC, A-0379-20

Mixed martial art (MMA) fighter takes a dietary supplement, which totally does not have any banned ingredients. Except it does. And he flunks a drug test and gets disciplined. He sues the sketchy dietary supplement company, which doesn't answer the complaint. He eventually gets a default judgment for $27 million.

OK, enforcement time. After the defendant was held in contempt for failing to comply with post-judgment discovery, the CEO, Hankin, deigned to talk about settlement in exchange for a pause in enforcement:

Thereafter, Hankin initiated a number of unprofessional email communications with plaintiff's counsel and in a February 19, 2020 email insinuated that a female associate employed at the firm, who was not working on the matter, fly across the country, meet him for dinner, and discuss a potential settlement of the matter.

Pro tip: Do not do this, if for no other reason than:

Thereafter, plaintiff's counsel declined to engage in any further communication with Hankin following his February 19, 2020 email.

Despite this, the opinion was a qualified win for the defendant: The Appellate Division knocked $6 million off the value of the judgment, and remanded for the trial court to determine whether to remove another $9 million!

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