Lawyer sues owner of racehorse American Pharoah for $10M, says response to client's suit defamed him
A New York lawyer representing a man seeking repayment of a claimed seven-figure gambling debt from the the owner of Triple Crown contender American Pharoah has now added a new lawsuit to the legal drama.
Attorney Joseph Bainton filed a federal suit Monday in New Jersey against racehorse owner Ahmed Zayat. It says Zayat’s response to the earlier contract suit Bainton filed on behalf of client Howard Rubinsky over the claimed gambling debt defamed Bainton, the New York Times (reg. req.) reports.
Bainton is seeking at least $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees. He says in the new suit that comments by Zayat to reporters calling the prior contract suit “extortion, a fraud and blackmail,” among other statements, were defamation per se.
A Louisville Courier-Journal article includes a copy of Monday’s federal complaint.
Attorney Joseph Vann represents Zayat. “We believe the lawsuit filed against our client today has no legal merit, we expect it will be thrown out by the court, and our client intends to file a malicious prosecution action after we prevail if warranted,” Vann said in a written statement provided to the Times.
Bainton told the Courier-Journal he really believes “that Mr. Zayat should be held accountable for calling me a criminal.”
