Court Wrestles Over Whether Gawker CEO Can Hide Behind Bankruptcy Shield
Gawker Media’s last-ditch effort to protect itself from a debilitating $140 million judgment using Chapter 11 may be a novel strategy to the media world but pharmaceutical and casino companies alike have recently used it with varying degrees of success, writes Maria Chutchian for Forbes.
A Florida jury recently awarded pro wrestler Hulk Hogan the damages in a privacy lawsuit stemming from Gawker’s publication of a Hogan sex tape in 2012, but Hogan is barred from executing the award against Gawker because of the company’s Chapter 11 protection from debtors.
“But Gawker founder Nick Denton, who is jointly liable for $115 million of that judgment plus another $10 million in punitive damages, doesn’t have the same protection. Gawker must convince a judge that the stay should be extended to cover Denton himself,” Chutchian writes.
