Via the Associated Press, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was due to be questioned under oath on Tuesday in a lawsuit arising from the rebate scandal at Pilot Flying J, the truck-stop company owned and operated by Haslam. The action involves the parties that opted out of a nationwide class action.
Technically, Haslam agreed to submit to the deposition. But that came at a time when he was in the process of being forced to comply.
Mr. Haslams deposition is not warranted by the facts in these cases and plaintiffs pursuit of his deposition is nothing more than harassment, attorney Steve Brody said. Mr. Haslam is nevertheless eager to put this gamesmanship behind him and therefore voluntarily agreed to sit for deposition by the remaining civil plaintiffs.
With the possibility of criminal charges still looming, Haslam may have to decide whether to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. That would significantly harm the companys interests in the civil litigation, and it would potentially destroy Haslams standing in the court of public opinion.
Multiple employees and executives of Pilot Flying J have pleaded guilty to federal charges based on the failure to properly provide rebates to companies deemed to be not sufficiently sophisticated to realize what has happening.