An animal feed distribution company has attempted to extricate itself from a lawsuit that alleges one of its senior executives and others were involved in a conspiracy to take control of the supply and sale of nutritional supplements for dairy cows, reports the Northern California Record.
California-headquartered JD Heiskell is accused of being responsible for the alleged actions of a company vice president, Todd Gearheart, and what the plaintiffs, supplement distributor Bunnett and related company Energy Feeds International, describe in court papers as co-conspirators.
Gearheart, whose company was one of the plaintiffs' largest customers, is accused with others of engineering a takeover of a new distribution network in a bid to edge the supplement firm out of business, which plantiffs claim is a violation of the RICO Act.
A previously filed complaint against JD Heiskell was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and an an amended complaint was filed. The court refused to strike the complaint against the company in its entirety, but did dismiss two counts under the civil RICO laws.
Read the full report here.
