Williams
WHEELING, W.Va. (Legal Newsline) - CSX Transportation pleads in federal court that it has presented plenty of proof that asbestos lawyers from Pittsburgh pulled a fraud.
On April 6, CSX asked U.S. District Judge Frederick Stamp for partial summary judgment against Robert Gilkison and the firm of Peirce, Raimond and Coulter.
The motions would bring a quick conclusion to a single sensational fraud claim within a suit alleging widespread fraud in the Peirce firm's suits against CSX.
The single claim revolves around substitution of one man's body for another in an X-ray screening session.
For CSX, Marc Williams of Huntington argued that Gilkison helped former railroad workers Ricky May and Daniel Jayne produce a false claim.
"Specifically, it is undisputed that defendant Gilkison was aware, both before Mr. May and Mr. Jayne performed their X-ray switch and prior to Mr. May's settlement with CSX, that a fraud was occurring," Williams wrote.
Gilkison ignored a duty to report the fraud to the court and to CSX, Williams wrote, and he kept silent to assure its success.
Statements of defendants have left no issues for a jury to determine, he wrote.
"There could not be a clearer set of facts pointing directly to the conclusion that defendant Gilkison, through his intentional misrepresentations, is liable to CSX for the committed fraud," he wrote.
"Moreover, it is undisputed that CSX relied upon the representation that Mr. May's chest X-ray was genuine and that CSX was justified in relying upon this representation," he wrote.
A separate motion sought summary judgment against the Peirce firm for proceeding with the claim in spite of the fraud.