The ex-FBI chief now serving as a watchdog over BP oil spill settlement claims is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed against him by an attorney once involved in the claims process.
Louis Freeh on Friday asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by attorney Christine Reitano.
Reitano and her husband, Lionel Sutton III, both once worked for a court-supervised claims processing facility.
Sutton was among lawyers barred from handling claims from the 2010 oil spill after a judge found that they had acted unethically in connection with the claims process. The same judge, however, cleared Reitano in the matter. She sued Freeh in February.
Freeh asked that the suit be dismissed because, as a court-appointed special master, he has legal immunity.
Reitano's lawsuit accused Freeh and his corporation, Freeh Group International Solutions LLC, of making false and malicious claims against her in reports that were published on the Internet. She said she provided Freeh with credible evidence contradicting the accusations.
Freeh said in his motion for dismissal Friday that her allegations were baseless, that making reports to the court available on the Internet are a common practice and that public distribution of the report was among his responsibilities in overseeing the integrity of the claims process.
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"Nothing about Internet publication changes the application of an absolute judicial immunity for Freeh and FGIS," the filing said.
