Free Answer to Third Party Complaint - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil action No. 1-01-cv-02313-JLK-CBS

GLN COMPLIANCE GROUP, INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED AIRLINES, INC., d/b/a UNITED BIZJET HOLDINGS, BIZJET CHARTERS, INC., AND BIZJET SERVICES, INC., and JONATHAN ROSS Defendants, v. GERALD NAEKEL, Third- Party Defendant. _____________________________________________________________________________ GLN COMPLIANCE GROUP, INC.'S ANSWER TO COUNTERCLAIMS and GERALD NAEKEL'S ANSWER TO THIRD PARTY COMPLAINT ______________________________________________________________________________ The Plaintiff, GLN Compliance Group, Inc. ("GLN"), and Third Party Defendant, Gerald Naekel ("Naekel"), through their attorneys of record, Elizabeth A. Starrs and Daniel A. Wartell of Starrs Mihm & Caschette LLP, hereby submit their Answer to Defendant Jonathan Ross's Counterclaims and Third Party Complaint as follows: ANSWER TO "I. INTRODUCTION" 1. No response to the statements in that portion of Jonathan Ross's "Counterclaims

and Third Party Complaint ... I. Introduction" is required. To the extent that these statements can

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be construed as stating a cause of action against GLN and/or Naekel, they are denied. ANSWER TO "II. PARTIES" 2. Neither GLN nor Naekel have sufficient information to either admit or deny the

allegations contained in the first two sentences in Paragraph 1 of Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. GLN and Naekel deny the remaining allegations contained in Paragraph 1 of Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. GLN admits that it is a Colorado corporation. Naekel admits that he is a resident of Colorado. Naekel admits that he is President of GLN. ANSWER TO "III. JURISDICTION AND VENUE" 3. GLN and Naekel admit the allegations contained in Paragraph 4 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. ANSWER TO "IV. GENERAL ALLEGATIONS" 4. GLN and Naekel admit the allegations contained in Paragraph 5 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. 5. GLN and Naekel admit the allegation in Paragraph 6 of Ross's Counterclaim and

Third Party Complaint that Ross acted to assist UAL and GLN in obtaining FAA certifications. GLN and Naekel deny the remaining allegations contained in Paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. 6. GLN and Naekel aver that the emails and other writings referred to in Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint speak for themselves. Except as so admitted and averred, GLN and Naekel deny the allegations contained in Paragraphs 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 27 of Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. 2

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7.

GLN and Naekel admit the allegations contained in Paragraph 26 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. ANSWER TO "FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Defamation ­ Libel Per Se ­ Against GLN and Naekel)" 8. GLN and Naekel incorporate by reference their responses to Paragraphs 1 - 27 of

Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint as if specifically rewritten here. 9. GLN and Naekel deny the allegations contained in Paragraphs 28 - 34 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint.

ANSWER TO "SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Outrageous Conduct ­ Against GLN and Naekel)" 10. GLN and Naekel incorporate by reference their responses to Paragraphs 1 - 34 of

Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint as if specifically rewritten here. 11. GLN and Naekel deny the allegations contained in Paragraphs 35 - 42 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint.

ANSWER TO "THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Abuse of Process ­ Against GLN)" 12. GLN and Naekel incorporate by reference their responses to Paragraphs 1 - 42 of

Ross's Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint as if specifically rewritten here. 13. GLN and Naekel deny the allegations contained in Paragraphs 43 - 48 of Ross's

Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint. All allegations not specifically admitted by GLN and Naekel are denied.

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GLN AND NAEKEL'S AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES 1. Ross's Counterclaims and Third Party Complaint fail to state a claim upon which

relief may be granted. As such, Ross's Counterclaims and Third Party Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice. 2. GLN and Naekel assert the defenses of substantial truth, qualified privilege, fair

comment, and consent. 3. GLN and Naekel assert that they reasonably relied on the sources of information

available to them when making some or all of the statements attributed to them. 4. GLN and Naekel assert that some or all of the statements attributed to them by

Ross pertain to matters of public concern. 5. GLN and Naekel assert that at all times they were exercising protected legal rights in a permissible manner. As such, all or a portion of Ross's Counterclaims and/or Third Party Complaint should be dismissed. 6. GLN and Naekel assert that Ross's claims, in whole or in part, are barred by the

applicable statutes of limitations. 7. Ross's claims are or may be barred in whole or in part by the doctrines of laches,

waiver, estoppel and/or unclean hands. 8. Ross's claims are barred in whole or in part because he failed to incur damages or

mitigate his damages, if any. 9. Ross's damages, if any, are entitled to a set-off for damages caused to Naekel and/or 4

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GLN.

10.

Some or all of Ross's damages, if any, were caused by non-parties who may be

wholly or partially at fault in this matter. 11. GLN and Naekel reserve the right to assert any additional affirmative defenses for

which the factual basis is learned through discovery or otherwise. WHEREFORE, GLN and Naekel request that the Court dismiss all of Ross's Counterclaims and Third Party claims against them, award attorneys fees and costs, and provide any other relief this Court determines is appropriate.

Dated: January 16, 2008.

s/ Elizabeth A. Starrs Daniel A. Wartell STARRS MIHM & CASCHETTE LLP 707 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2600 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: 303-592-5900 Fax: 303-592-5910 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for GLN Compliance Group, Inc. and Gerald Naekel

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on January 16, 2008, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following e-mail addresses: Mark T. Barnes, Esq. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck 410 17th Street, Suite 2200 Denver, CO 80202-4437 Telephone: 303-223-1100 Fax: 303-223-1111 [email protected] Stephen D. Gurr, Esq. Kamlet Shepard & Reichert LLP 1515 Arapahoe St., Tower 1, Suite 1600 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: 303-825-4200 Fax: 303-825-1185 [email protected] Micah E. Marcus, Esq. Kirkland & Ellis LLP 200 E. Randolph Drive Chicago, IL 60601 Telephone: 312-861-2165 Fax: 312-861-2200 [email protected] s/ Elizabeth A. Starrs Daniel A. Wartell STARRS MIHM & CASCHETTE LLP 707 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2600 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: 303-592-5900 Fax: 303-592-5910 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for GLN Compliance Group, Inc. and Gerald Naekel 6