Lawyer in sex-tape case ordered to pay $198K for unnecessary litigation
A lawyer representing a woman who secretly videotaped a sexual encounter with Waffle House chairman Joe Rogers Jr. has been ordered to pay $198,000 in legal fees for unnecessary litigation.
Judge Eric Richardson of Fulton County ordered lawyer David Cohen to pay the legal fees for litigation on behalf of Rogers’ former housekeeper and personal assistant, Mye Brindle, report MyAJC.com and the Daily Report (sub. req.). Cohen plans to appeal.
Brindle claims Rogers sexually harassed her, a charge Rogers has denied, He says any sexual encounters with Brindle were consensual. Rogers, on the other hand, claims Brindle made the video at Cohen’s direction to extort money from him; Cohen says he didn’t plan or encourage the video, and a letter sent to Rogers was a legitimate demand letter.
Rogers had sued in Cobb County, Georgia, where Brindle lived, in 2012 after receiving the letter seeking a settlement to resolve the sexual harassment allegations. A day later, Cohen sued in Fulton County, where Rogers lives.
Richardson’s order said Cohen should not have sued in Fulton County because the suit had already been filed in Cobb County.
“The record is replete with evidence showing that Cohen’s ultimate purpose was to harass Rogers with threats of disclosure and actual disclosure of Brindle’s sexual misconduct allegations,” Richardson wrote. The Fulton County lawsuit “unnecessarily expanded the proceedings … for purposes of delay and harassment, and Rogers is entitled to all reasonable fees which are related to this sanctionable conduct.”
A lawyer for Cohen, John Floyd, told MyACJ.com that Brindle’s lawyers “asserted legitimate claims on behalf of their client” and they deny engaging in any illegal conduct. “The facts and the law will confirm that the video recording is legal,” Floyd said.
Wrong word in last paragraph corrected at 8:55 a.m.
