The statement made by Drummond Company was unequivocal. “We are disappointed by the jury’s decision to convict our employee, David Roberson. While we respect the judicial process, we consider David to be a man of integrity who would not knowingly engage in wrongdoing.”
That statement came the day following the guilty verdicts in the trial of David Roberson and Joel Gilbert of Balch & Bingham. During the same time, Roberson says he and his wife were promised by Drummond “they had nothing to worry about” and that Drummond would keep David Roberson on paid administrative leave until his appeal process was completed. Drummond would pay him his full salary, bonuses, and benefits until the matter had been fully adjudicated.
However, on February 7, 2019, exactly six months and eighteen days after his conviction, Drummond terminated Roberson’s employment with no notice or reason.
Now the very same people at Drummond who spoke to Roberson’s integrity are attempting to impugn it as part of a defense strategy in a suit Roberson has filed against them.
Roberson and his wife brought suit against Drummond Company and Balch & Bingham. Balch & Bingham was dismissed from the suit, not for its merits but instead on technical grounds after Judge Tamara Harris ruled that the firm was protected by the statute of limitations laid out in the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act (ALSLA). Burt Newsome the Roberson’s attorney, is moving forward in circuit court against Drummond Company.
Ironically, Drummond is now attempting to use that same statute (ALSLA) as their defense. Responding to that claim, Newsom says, “Drummond Company, Inc.’s assertion that it falls under the Alabama Legal Services Act is simply absurd. It is a coal company, and the ALSA only applies to lawyers and law firms as clearly held by the Alabama Supreme Court.”
The lawsuit claims that Drummond waited exactly six months from his conviction, believing that to be the applicable statute of limitations for both them and Balch and Bingham.
Roberson is suing Drummond Coal for $75,000,000 compensatory and punitive damages. He and his wife allege in their suit a series of broken promises, bad faith advice, and misconduct by Drummond executives that left him without a proper defense in his criminal case and without income, which ultimately left him and his family in dire financial straits and ruined his reputation.
Roberson, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and complete 100 hours per year of community service during his year of supervised release.
Speaking to the effects of the case and the alleged actions of Drummond and Balch & Bingham, David Roberson told Alabama Today, “Anna and I have lost everything as a result of what happened at Drummond – our home, our possessions, our friends and my career.”
There is little room for disagreement that Roberson was held in the highest esteem in his personal and professional life prior to this case, as U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon acknowledged during the sentencing hearing for Roberson. Over 149 people, including family, friends, business executives, and lawmakers, wrote letters of support for leniency, which ultimately led Judge Kallon to deviate from the sentencing guidelines for a lesser sentence.
During that hearing, Al.com reports that Roberson spoke, thanking his family and friends for their support. “I may have been naïve, I may have been too trusting… [but]I am innocent of all charges brought against me,” Roberson said. He said he trusted Gilbert and the Balch team to make sure everything they were doing was ethical, and also said he never saw the contract with Robinson’s nonprofit foundation. “I never thought we were bribing Oliver Robinson,” he said. “I trusted Joel [Gilbert].”
Gilbert was not just Roberson’s co-defendant. They were long-time personal friends. Gilbert included Roberson in his apologies during his sentencing hearing.
In a ruling made this past Friday, November 20, 2020, Judge Harris not only denied efforts for Drummond to have more time also ruled that discovery can also begin.
Newsome said, “We are confident that the evidence will show that Mr. Roberson was deceived and that criminal activity was concealed from him by both Balch and Drummond, and he first learned about this misconduct at his criminal trial. Furthermore, we believe that the evidence will also show that David Roberson, nor Joel Gilbert either for that matter, received a fair trial and that other indictments related to this North Birmingham Superfund scandal are possible when the complete truth comes to light.”
He went on to say, “Corporations have a duty of fair play with their employees – especially those that are in sensitive positions such as government affairs and compliance. Executive Management and the Board of Directors and their attorneys cannot engage in misconduct and then set up lower-level managers/employees to take the blame if the misconduct is discovered by government agents.”
The cases and claims against Drummond and Balch & Bingham are not expected to be easy. Both companies have the financial means and political capital to fight it. Roberson noted this challenge and his faith that he will succeed, saying, “Burt Newsome is the only lawyer in this state who would take on two of state’s most powerful entities – Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company. Burt is a lawyer that has guts and integrity, and we are going to see this thing through to the end.”
“All corporations want to make money, but a corporation should have some boundaries as to what it will do to make money and what it is willing to do to others to pursue profits,” Roberson continued. The court will now be able to hear the argument that Drummond did, in fact, go too far.
