Pilot Flying J CEO Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit
Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam asked a federal judge to dismiss federal lawsuits filed by two trucking companies that have alleged Haslam was at the center of a conspiracy to shortchange them of diesel fuel rebates.
In a Nov. 14 “bill of particulars,” New Jersey-based National Retail Transportation Inc. and Keystone Freight Corp. said it was Haslam who instructed Pilot employees to shortchange the two carriers of the agreed amount of discounts for purchasing fuel with the truck-stop chain.
But in Dec. 5 motion to dismiss the lawsuits, Haslam said, “Rather than backing their claims with details about how Haslam supposedly acted to deprive them of rebates owed under their fuel purchase contract with Pilot Corporation, plaintiffs offer only conclusory assertions, contending that Haslam ‘was aware of and directed Pilot’s employees to engage in a scheme to defraud its clients’ and ‘personally benefited’ from the alleged scheme.”
“But these assertions are unsupported by allegations describing who Haslam supposedly directed, what he communicated, or when any directions were given,” the motion said.
In a separate filing on Dec. 5, former Pilot President Mark Hazelwood also asked the judge to dismiss the two carriers’ claims against him.
The two companies “do not sufficiently identify a single fraudulent statement allegedly made by Hazelwood; where and when it was made; and why it was fraudulent,” Hazelwood’s motion said.
Pilot has been under investigation since FBI agents raided the company’s Knoxville, Tennessee, headquarters in April 2013.
So far, 10 executives have entered into plea bargain agreements that require them to cooperate with federal investigators, but they have yet to be sentenced.
