John's Island Real Estate owner asks judge to toss antitrust lawsuit filed by ex-employee
INDIAN RIVER SHORES – In a new round of court filings, John’s Island Real Estate and its owner Robert M. Gibb are asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by a former employee turned-rival broker who has sued for claims of antitrust violations, racketeering and unfair trade practices.
Real estate agent Michael Merrill claimed in a civil complaint that after Gibb terminated him in 2022, his former mentor and boss with John’s Island Real Estate undertook a series of “bad acts” to damage Merrill’s career at a competitor firm, Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The 21-page lawsuit filed in July and amended last month, accuses Gibb of using his influence over the exclusive beachside community’s housing market to harm Merrill professionally and eliminate his ability to conduct business on John’s Island in part through “pressure, threats and retaliation.”
According to the suit, Gibb “verbally reprimanded, chastised, intimidated, and financially punished individuals” seeking to buy or sell homes on John’s Island who chose to work with Merrill.
“This was done by disrupting their businesses, precluding their membership with John’s Island Club, causing them financial loss, and damaging their own good standing within the community,” the lawsuit claims.
John’s Island is an exclusive 1,650-acre barrier island enclave within the town of Indian River Shores, just north of Vero Beach, in Indian River County.
Merrill’s lawyer Matthew Thomas recently said they filed the complaint only after repeated attempts – including sending Gibb a Feb. 18, 2023 cease-and-desist letter - failed to stop an “aggressive campaign” against Merrill.
“If there were only one or two (incidents) I don't know that Michael would have felt compelled to move forward with this lawsuit,” Thomas said.
Motion to dismiss
Gibb’s lawyer Lewis “Wil” Murphy Jr., in rejecting the lawsuit’s claims, has insisted no one at John’s Island Real Estate has tried to damage Merrill’s real estate career.
On Feb. 19, Murphy filed a motion seeking to throw out the 11-count lawsuit and listed various legal reasons why each claim should be rejected by a judge.
"Gibb and (John’s Island Real Estate) had a right to engage in all lawful means to establish and maintain (John’s Island Real Estate) as the pre-eminent provider of residential real estate services in the John’s Island Community," argued Murphy in the filing. "Defendants have a legal right to lawfully compete with (Merrill,) including the right to engage in lawful conduct designed to promote Gibb and (John’s Island Real Estate’s) business interests to the detriment of competitors including plaintiff (Merrill)."
He characterized Merrill’s lawsuit claims as “scandalous allegations … floating around the amended complaint without any anchoring claim.”
In a counter Feb. 27 filing, attorney Thomas urged Circuit Judge Cynthia Cox to deny Gibb’s motion and argued why each count in the lawsuit was warranted.
He noted that a motion to dismiss should only be granted, “when the party seeking dismissal has conclusively demonstrated that plaintiff could prove no set of facts whatsoever in support of the cause of action.”
"As the plaintiff (Merrill) has stated a cause of action against both defendants for each count against them, defendants’ (motion) should be summarily denied without the need for a hearing," Thomas wrote.
Recent court filings show video depositions set in February and early March for Merrill and Gibb were delayed until after March 15 after Murphy provided to Thomas an estimated 88,000 pages of documents relevant to the lawsuit.
Both sides have already exchanged tens of thousands of pages of records that relate to the suit’s claims or possible defenses.
Other people expected to be deposed this month include Gibb’s wife and daughter, who work alongside him, Wheatley Gibb and Rennie Gibb, according to court records.
In April and May, two John’s Island Real Estate broker assistants Susie Perticone and Kristen Yoshitani, are scheduled to attend video depositions.
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Judge asked to dismiss lawsuit filed against John's Island Real Estate
