Media Contact:
Stephen Payne, (703) 749-5505, spayne@feldinc.com
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Settlement
VIENNA, VA - Dec. 28,
2012 – Feld Entertainment, Inc., the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus,
announced today that the company has reached a legal settlement with the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in connection
with two federal court cases. Under the settlement, ASPCA has paid Feld
Entertainment $9.3 million to settle all claims related to its part in more
than a decade of manufactured litigation that attempted to outlaw elephants in
the company’s Ringling Bros. ® Circus.
This settlement applies only to the ASPCA. Feld Entertainment’s legal proceedings, including its claims for litigation abuse and racketeering, will continue against the remaining defendants, Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Protection Institute United with Born Free USA, Tom Rider and the attorneys involved.
This settlement applies only to the ASPCA. Feld Entertainment’s legal proceedings, including its claims for litigation abuse and racketeering, will continue against the remaining defendants, Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Protection Institute United with Born Free USA, Tom Rider and the attorneys involved.
“These defendants
attempted to destroy our family-owned business with a hired plaintiff who made
statements that the court did not believe.
Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our
employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses. This settlement is a vindication not just for
the company but also for the dedicated men and women who spend their lives working
and caring for all the animals with Ringling
Bros. in the face of such targeted, malicious rhetoric,” said Kenneth Feld,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment.
The parties filed dismissal
papers today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as a result of
their settlement. The settlement covers only
Feld Entertainment’s claims against ASPCA for attorneys’ fees and damages in
the initial Endangered Species Act (ESA) case filed in 2000 by the animal
rights activists and the resultant racketeering (RICO) case brought by Feld Entertainment
in 2007. Discovery in the initial
lawsuit uncovered over $190,000 that these animal activist groups and their
lawyers paid to Tom Rider who lived off of the money while serving as the
“injured plaintiff” in the lawsuit against the circus.
“Our firm has been
defending Feld Entertainment against this onslaught of misguided litigation
brought by animal activist groups for years.
As their attorneys, it is gratifying to finally have a settlement that begins
to make up for the harm inflicted on this company, the family who owns it, and
its employees,” said John Simpson of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., lead
counsel for Feld Entertainment in all of the cases covered by the settlement
with ASPCA.
Background
of Case
The original complaint
was filed in July 2000 by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute, the Fund for Animals and Tom
Rider, who is a former Ringling Bros. employee. The case was dismissed in 2001 but was
reinstated in 2003 after an appellate court ruled that if Tom Rider could prove
that he was injured by Ringling Bros.’
treatment of the elephants, the case could proceed. The Animal Protection Institute joined the
case in 2006.
The trial began on
February 4, 2009 and lasted approximately six weeks. The case is ASPCA, et
al., v. Feld Entertainment, Inc., No. 03-2006 (D.D.C.)(Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan
presiding).
On December 30, 2009,
the U.S. District Court ruled in Feld Entertainment’s favor (published as ASPCA v. Feld Entertainment, Inc.,
677 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.D.C. 2009)). In its ruling the Court
stated that, “the Court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff
and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore affords no weight to his
testimony regarding the matters discussed herein, i.e., the allegations related
to his standing to sue." (www.ringlingbrostrialinfo.com/uploadedFiles/ASPCA%20Memorandum%20Opinion.pdf)
That decision found
that the plaintiffs’ litigation was based on the untruthful testimony of a paid
plaintiff and witness who the Court found received at least $190,000 in
payments as his sole source of income over an eight year period by animal
special interest groups, including ASPCA, their lawyers and an entity founded
and controlled by those lawyers, the Wildlife Advocacy Project.
The Court also ruled,
“that ensuring Mr. Rider’s continued participation as a plaintiff was a
motivating factor behind the payments to him, and that these payments were a
motivating factor for his continued involvement in the case.” The Court also
ruled against the other plaintiffs in the case: “because the organizational
plaintiffs have not established an injury in fact, traceable to FEI’s actions
that can be redressed by the Court, the organizational plaintiffs have no
standing to sue under Article III of the United States Constitution.”
Furthermore, the
Court ruled that “based upon his failure to complain, the Court finds that Mr.
Rider either (1) did not witness elephant mistreatment when he was employed by
FEI or (2) any mistreatment he did witness did not affect him to the extent
that he suffered an aesthetic or emotional injury.” The Court’s December 2009 ruling was affirmed
in its entirety by the Court of Appeals on October 28, 2011.
Based upon
what was revealed in ASPCA, et al., v. Feld Entertainment, Feld Entertainment brought
suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against
ASPCA, HSUS and other animal rights activists and their lawyers alleging
violations of the RICO statute and Virginia Conspiracy Act, malicious
prosecution, and abuse of process. The
court denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss that case on July 9, 2012
Additional
information on this litigation, including Court rulings, filings and elephant
care
Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® and the company’s international elephant
conservation programs is available online at www.elephantcenter.com.
Ringling
Bros. Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. legal team is led by John M. Simpson
and includes, Michelle C. Pardo, Stephen M. McNabb, Kara Petteway and Rebecca
Bazan.
About
Feld Entertainment
Feld Entertainment has produced Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
for over 45 years. Ringling Bros.’ elephants, the treasured
symbol of The Greatest Show On Earth®
and the subject of the litigation, continue to be healthy and well-cared for by
a team of full-time veterinarians and an animal care staff that works to ensure
that the animals have a safe and positive environment. The company meets and
exceeds federal requirements on the care of its Asian elephants, tigers and
other animals. Its animal care practices
are commonly accepted and well known to federal, state and local government
regulators who routinely inspect Ringling
Bros. in almost every city it visits.
Feld Entertainment,
Inc. is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live family
entertainment that lifts the human spirit and creates indelible memories, with
30 million people in attendance at its shows each year. Feld Entertainment’s
productions have appeared in more than 70 countries and on six continents to
date and include Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney On
Ice, Disney Live!, Monster Jam, Supercross, Areanacross, Nuclear Cowboyz
and IHRA drag racing. More
information on Feld Entertainment is available online at www.feldentertainment.com.
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