Alexandria, VA -- The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a lawsuit against Virginia state Delegate Jeffrey Frederick (R-52nd). In the lawsuit, Joseph Giganti and his business, Veritas Media Group, asserted various claims against Mr. Frederick and his company. The lawsuit became a political issue when Veritas distributed it at the primary election polls a few days after filing it in the federal court. Mr. Frederick ultimately won both the primary and the general elections.

“Mr. Giganti and Veritas Media Group filed the lawsuit in retaliation of a lawsuit Mr. Frederick brought against the two seeking payment for delinquent bills. That is the wrong thing to do,” according to Mr. Frederick’s lawyer, Seth Berenzweig of Arlington’s Albo & Oblon, L.L.P. “It was both retaliatory and frivolous.” The court dismissed the case based on these arguments. Judge Ellis agreed and, in two separate hearings, dismissed all of the claims against Mr. Frederick. Judge Ellis also expressed the court’s concern about Veritas’ conduct in filing the lawsuit, noting it raised an issue under the court’s sanctions rule, Mr. Berenzweig said.

Mr. Berenzweig on February 17th filed a request that the court sanction Veritas and its attorney for the filing of the lawsuit.

“The federal court agreed that all the claims against Mr. Frederick failed to assert any viable claim, and we intend to prosecute a sanctions motion for this. Mr. Frederick did nothing wrong and hopes that sanctions against the wrongdoers will send a message that you don’t torture people with frivolous lawsuits. We are pleased that the court did the right thing and promptly dismissed the claims,” Mr. Berenzweig said.

About Albo & Oblon:

Albo & Oblon, LLP, based in Arlington, is one of Virginia’s 75 largest law firms. It handles civil and criminal litigation in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland. In particular, the firm handles general civil and corporate litigation, business and employment law, and internet law. Seth Berenzweig manages the firm’s litigation practice. Albo & Oblon partner, Malik Cutlar, was co-counsel on the case.