Court Hearings Scheduled in Heath Ritenour, John Ritenour and Insurance Office of America’s Lawsuit on Objections Alleging “Bad Faith” Discovery Conduct and “Retaliatory Litigation” Claimed to Been Filed to “White-Wash” Their Illegal Activities – Informat
Legal Newswire
Sep 27, 2023
September 26, 2023, ORLANDO, FLORIDA. Court Hearings have been scheduled in a lawsuit pending since March 2020 in Seminole County, Florida (“Seminole Case”) upon two Objections to Plaintiffs Heath Ritenour (“Heath”), John Ritenour (“John”) and Insurance Office of America, Inc.’s Notice of Production from Non-Parties filed on September 1, 2023 and September 14, 2023 in addition to other hearings have also been scheduled in the case. On September 11 and 14th, 2023, Louis Spagnuolo filed timely Objections, and the following is an announcement of some of the allegations and arguments therein. These Objections are on track to be heard in January 2024 but have yet to have been ruled upon and the Court may sustain or overrule Spagnuolo’s Objections.
Spagnuolo’s September 11th Objection alleges and argues: “…once Plaintiffs filed their fraudulent lawsuit in March 2020, Defendants immediately, and perhaps unexpectedly, began seeking discovery as to the factual allegations in the original lawsuit instead of “cutting and running” which Plaintiffs had predicted. In order to prevent Defendants from going after information from third parties through the judicial process which would have debunked the self-serving allegations in their initial pleading, Plaintiffs instantly objected to any third-party discovery and sought extensions of time to respond to other document requests.”
Quoting directly from his September 11 Objection, Spagnuolo alleges and argues: “Plaintiffs’ intention of filing and prosecuting this fraudulent lawsuit was not to actually litigate the merits of this case…Instead, the fraudulent lawsuit has been used by design as a platform from which Heath Ritenour discusses ongoing litigation with third parties and defames Spagnuolo and others.”
Spagnuolo’s September 11th Objection further alleges, argues and states: “as a result of Heath Ritenour’s alleged wrongful conduct of further damaging Spagnuolo through defamation and abuse of process using this fraudulent lawsuit as cover, Spagnuolo filed a lawsuit against Heath and IOA in Broward County, Florida styled: Louis Spagnuolo v. Insurance Office of America, Inc. and Heath Ritenour: In the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida, Case Number: CACE 23-000555 (“Broward Lawsuit”).”
The September 11th Objection also alleges, states and argues: “On April 14, 2021, Spagnuolo filed his Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint which argues, in part, that in filing this fraudulent lawsuit, Heath, John and IOA violated Florida’s prohibition against strategic lawsuits which are filed against individuals or entities seeking to chill, influence, deter, hinder, delay, interfere with, obstruct or prohibit them from prosecuting claims in court, a/k/a, Anti-SLAPP Statute.”
In Spagnuolo’s September 18th Objection, which was directed to the September 14, 2023 Notice of Production to Non-Parties, Spagnuolo alleges and argues: “the discovery was drafted so egregiously and intentionally malignant that, for example, the Request itself states: “Private Messages (ideally all messages, but we can modify the scope if there is pushback).” This is the very definition of bad faith discovery where it is sent out so knowingly overbroad such that “pushback” is anticipated in the actual language of the of Request.” In the September 18 Objection, Spagnuolo also claims that the Seminole Case was filed as “retaliatory litigation” and that one of its purposes was the “white-wash” unlawful conduct.
Heath, John and IOA’s pending Seminole County lawsuit alleges that they essentially unblemished reputations and that Defendants’ conduct caused damages. As such, this announcement seeks information and witnesses as to the claims made by them in the Seminole Case. As such, if you have any information relative to any of the above allegations in the 2020 Case pending in Seminole County, Florida against Spagnuolo, or as to the character and reputations of John Ritenour, Heath Ritenour or Insurance Office of America, please contact us at info@farrowlawfirm.com. You may also contact us at 954-252-9818 and are under no obligation to provide your name or contact information on a confidential basis. All communications will remain confidential unless otherwise permitted by federal or state law, rules of procedure, evidence or Court order.
***THIS IS NOT A LAWYER ADVERTISEMENT OR SOLICITATION***
This Announcement is for informational gathering purposes and otherwise to report on the status of the lawsuit and is not a solicitation for any individual having any alleged claims against any of the Parties named above and, should we receive a request for representation to prosecute or defend claims as to these Parties, Farrow Law will decline the same and the same applies to anyone seeking representation by the firm based upon this release. This case has not gone to trial, nor have any of the allegations or arguments made in the recent filings herein above been determined at this time in a court of law or otherwise as to any party.
CONTACT:
Jay Farrow
Founder Farrow Law Firm
954-252-9818 | info@farrowlawfirm.com
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