Opinion ID: 2259440
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Nixon's Involvement

Text: Dr. Nixon claims that his role in the fraud was minimal, far less than that of the other participants. While that is true to some extent, we are satisfied that his involvement was sufficient for a bad faith finding and that he should therefore be subject to the sanctions imposed by the trial court. Nixon asserts that he did not engage in any bad faith conduct, much less participate (as plaintiff) in a massive conspiracy with the defendants. He points out that the trial court found that he never saw the four dozen false affidavits of disenfranchisement which were filed with the court. The court also found that Nixon did not write or authorize the forged letter to Jemison which was attached to the complaint. Despite these findings favorable to Dr. Nixon, however, the trial court also found that Nixon played a major role in the institution of the fraudulent lawsuit. It was Nixon who arranged the special meeting of the Alabama State Convention's Executive Board to obtain the board's approval of a suit challenging the election in its name. He helped to gain votes to support the suit by relieving certain officials of their positions and then appointing others to the board, including Rev. Lewis. Dr. Nixon presented to the Executive Board a memorandum, prepared by Ms. Fleming, which served as the factual foundation for the complaint. Fleming purported to document that 616 voters from Alabama had been denied their right to vote at the convention. Nixon knew that this memorandum had been fabricated and was not accurate. He also told Mr. Mundy that more than 600 Alabama delegates had been denied the right to vote  the central allegation of the fraudulent complaint. Dr. Nixon then assigned Rev. Lewis the task of gathering false statements to support the suit. While there is no way of knowing just how closely Dr. Nixon collaborated with Rev. Lewis in arranging for the forged affidavits, the fact that Nixon assigned the task amply demonstrates his role in the fraud. When one of the purported affiants, Rev. Willie McClung, approached Dr. Nixon about his forged affidavit, Nixon told him to mind [his] own business. Although Nixon left the active management of the suit to Jemison and Fleming, he helped to provide the fabricated allegations upon which the suit was based and, when confronted with the fraud and forgery, did nothing to mitigate it in any way. The court found: The plaintiff, Dr. Nixon, knew firsthand that the allegations raised in the complaint and the application for TRO, consisting of mass denials of 600 or more eligible delegates' right to vote; the assertions that the new Board and President had not been installed; unspecified breaches of the Convention Constitution, and assertions of widespread election irregularities, were not well grounded in fact. This finding is abundantly supported by the evidence. Nixon also argues that the court could not award punitive damages without first assessing compensatory damages, [7] and that the court erred in awarding punitive damages because the trial court never considered evidence of his net worth. We reject both arguments. In this case the award of attorneys' fees was itself compensatory. In the context of bad faith litigation, repayment of the fees incurred in defending against the litigation is properly treated as compensatory damages. See Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., supra, 501 U.S. at 46, 111 S.Ct. 2123. Furthermore, under District of Columbia law, evidence of net worth is not always a prerequisite to an award of punitive damages. See Town Center Management Corp. v. Chavez, 373 A.2d 238, 246 (D.C.1977); see also Jonathan Woodner Co. v. Breeden, 665 A.2d 929, 938 (D.C.1995), modified, 681 A.2d 1097, 1098 (1996) (net worth must be shown only when punitive damages are based on the wealth of the person from whom such damages are sought), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 1083, 137 L.Ed.2d 217 (1997).