Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, TENN.
Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was deposed Tuesday in a civil lawsuit against the Pilot Flying J truck-stop chain, which is owned by his brother, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and other family members.
According to a court notice filed in Franklin County, Ohio, the deposition that was originally to be videotaped at a Knoxville, Tenn., law office was moved to the conference room at the Pilot Aviation hangar at that city’s airport.
The lawsuit was filed by companies that declined to participate in an $85 million settlement between Pilot and 5,500 trucking companies in connection with a scheme to cheat customers out of promised discounts and rebates. The company also paid a $92 million federal penalty in an agreement with prosecutors in which the company accepted responsibility for the criminal actions of its employees.
Ten former Pilot employees have pleaded guilty in the scheme, and the company’s former president and several others face trial next year in federal court.
“I knew nothing about the misconduct of some of our former employees,” Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam said in a statement after the deposition. “I wish I could discuss this entire matter freely with you today and answer your questions as I did the plaintiffs. I can’t do that yet.”