Category:Frivolous Lawsuits

The following category of lawsuits do not directly bear on Donald Trump

• David Rothrock is a serial litigant who has filed lawsuits involving Donald Trump that misappropriated the name of other famous people as plaintiffs. “Cliven Bundy is quite a character. The family of the Nevada cattle rancher-vigilante is currently at the center of an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, which is merely the latest episode in a long history of clashes with the federal government. But that doesn't mean every crazy thing Bundy supposedly said or did actually happened - such as, say, suing President Obama in 2014 for allegedly threatening Donald Trump. BuzzFeed reported Monday morning that Bundy filed a ‘bizarre, hand-written lawsuit’ against the president. The suit alleged that Obama ‘covertly threatened Donald Trump with building code violations, property tax fraud, illegally operating offshore tax havens for betting with federal indictments unless he shuts up and stops the Birther movement.’ That would, indeed, be bizarre - so bizarre, in fact, that it probably should have been treated with juuust a bit more skepticism. The lawsuit does exist, but the person listed as Bundy's co-plaintiff is a guy named David Rothrock, a convicted rapist who is in prison in Pennsylvania. Rothrock has a history of filing wacked-out legal actions and affixing the names of famous people to them. In 2014, he put Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's name on a motion seeking an injunction that would have prevented Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles from playing. Rothrock claimed to be a performance-enhancing drug dealer who supplied Bortles with steroids and human growth hormone. He accused Bortles of threatening to frame him for rape and said the former University of Central Florida standout is HIV-positive.” (Washington Post, January 4, 2016)
• 2006: A Florida man named George May had a history of filing frivolous lawsuits, some of which named Donald Trump as a defendant. “George May may have filed his last lawsuit. But the key word, in all respects, is ‘may.’ In a terse five-page ruling, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Palm Beach Gardens man to stop filing lawsuits that have clogged court systems throughout the state and cost taxpayers, ordinary Joes and even titans of industry such as Donald Trump thousands of dollars in legal fees. ‘May's frivolous and abusive filings must immediately come to an end,’ the high court wrote in an unanimous decision. “ (Palm Beach Post, June 23, 2006)
• 1993: A Florida man named Anthony Martin was a vexatious litigator who brought lawsuits against Donald Trump. “Anthony R. ‘Andy’ Martin -- West Palm Beach resident, prolific press release writer, lawsuit filer, and perennial gubernatorial candidate -- has filed suit over a dispute he's having with 48 Hours' handling of a segment about him titled ‘See You in Court,’ set to air in September. […] 48 Hours was in Palm Beach and Broward counties for a couple weeks, following Martin in his pursuits as a self- proclaimed ‘people's attorney general, legal activist’ and ‘the most disliked lawyer in Florida.’ Judge Ross issued an order last week prohibiting Martin from filing any more lawsuits in Broward. Since 1989, Martin has filed more than two dozen lawsuits in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Among some of the notable defendants: H. Wayne Huizenga, whom Martin sued to keep him from ditzing the idea of professional baseball in St. Petersburg; and Donald Trump, whose proposed club at Mar-a-Lago Martin opposes.” (Miami Herald, June 26, 1993)
• 1990: Trump was named in a frivolous lawsuit by a prison inmate claiming to be related by blood to Ivana Trump. “One No-Trump Vladimir Zatko, an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison in California, sued Donald Trump this week from his jail cell for $275 million, claiming that he is Ivana Trump's brother and that he has suffered severe emotional distress from the treatment Ivana has received at The Donald's hands. U.S. District Court Judge Alfred J. Lechner dismissed the suit the day it was filed on the grounds that it was ‘frivolous.’ A spokesman for Mrs. Trump said that she is an only child, and a spokesman for the prison said that records show no connection between Zatko and the Trumps.” (Washington Post, October 27, 1990)