Gawker ultimately sold it assets and shut down before reaching a settlement with Hogan. Hogan argued that Gawker violated his privacy when it published excerpts of the sex tape, and was awarded more than $140 million in damages earlier this year. Gawker filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of its high-profile lawsuit against Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea. "We will not be cowered into a fetal position by Gawker’s bankruptcy lawyers." " It’s designed to pressure Daulerio to settle when we were already pretty close," Marburger said. Marburger said he plans to challenge Gawker’s position, adding that it may influence the settlement he was already working toward with Hogan's lawyers. "It’s a threat to stuff this potential settlement down throat," said Marburger, who has asked the bankruptcy judge in the case to order Gawker to pay for his services and has so far represented Daulerio pro bono. Absent an agreement, Daulerio would be liable to his former employer, Gawker's lawyers told the court. What’s more, Marburger contends, Gawker’s objection contains a thinly-veiled threat to sue Daulerio if he doesn’t reach a settlement with Hogan. At issue is whether Daulerio acted within the bounds of his employment agreement with Gawker, something that, until now, was undisputed.īy accepting the jury’s finding that Daulerio “intended to cause (Hogan) severe emotional distress or acted with reckless disregard,” among other things, Gawker has effectively limited Daulerio’s ability to continue his pursuit of having his portion of the damages reduced or reversed on appeal. (Hogan's lawyers asked Gawker to remove the tape in 2012, which the company refused, leading Hogan to file suit.) "Gawker never told the jury that this whole thing was Daulerio’s fault… that's why this is such an insult to people’s intelligence," Marburger added.Īs Gawker moves to finalize its own $31 million settlement with Hogan, the interests of the estate, now overseen by bankruptcy lawyers trying to maximize the available money for the company’s long list of creditors, and its former employees, have diverged. "If that’s what Gawker thought, don't you think they would have taken the video down in 2012?" said Daulerio's attorney, David Marburger.
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