July 17, 2009, Detroit MI – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued a ruling today reinstating claims brought by former packaged ice sales executive Martin McNulty against Reddy Ice, Home City Ice, and Joseph Riley for violation of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”).
Mr. McNulty alleged that these defendants agreed with Arctic Glacier to blacklist him in retaliation for his refusal to participate in an antitrust conspiracy, and in retaliation for his cooperation with the FBI and DOJ in exposing the conspiracy.
The Court had dismissed Mr. McNulty’s RICO claim against Reddy, Home City, and Mr. Riley on May 29, 2009, finding that Mr. McNulty had not adequately alleged a RICO “enterprise.” In light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that clarified the definition of a RICO “enterprise,” see Boyle v. United States, No. 07-1309, 2009 WL 1576571, _ U.S. _ (June 8, 2009), Kotchen & Low filed a motion for reconsideration. The Eastern District of Michigan granted the motion, finding that Mr. McNulty’s allegations “meet the threshold standard for a RICO enterprise articulated in Boyle,” and reinstated Mr. McNulty’s RICO claims under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) against Reddy, Home City, and Riley.