Judge Stephen R. Bough is refusing to step down from overseeing the Gibson commission lawsuit.
“Litigation strategy” and not “ethical concerns” drove the recusal calls, the judge said in a filing on Thursday.
Howard Hanna was the first defendant to ask the court for Judge Bough’s recusal. HomeServices of America parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy and brokerage defendant Crye-Leike later joined its motion. Their calls for recusal are due to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Matthew Dameron, having donated to the the political campaign of the judge’s wife in 2019.
Judge Bough both recused himself in a case against a gun manufacturer, and offered to do so from the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit for the same reason. He did not make that offer in the Gibson commission lawsuit. It was filed after the jury verdict in the Sitzer/Burnett trial.
The companies argued that Dameron’s donation gave “the appearance of impropriety,” an argument that Judge Bough rejected in his ruling.
According to the filing, Judge Bough disclosed those political donations well before Howard Hanna filed its motion. The filing noted that at the final approval hearing for the Keller Williams, RE/MAX and Anywhere settlements in the Sitzer/Burnett suit, he mentioned several attorneys who were present and donated to his wife’s campaign.
“As a result, the court, out of an abundance of caution asked, ‘Would anyone else like to be heard on this potential conflict,’” Judge Bough wrote. “The court received no response.”
According to Judge Bough, Hanna Holdings, the parent company of Howard Hanna, had attorneys present at that hearing who did not speak up.
Judge Bough also noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that not every campaign contribution creates a bias requiring a judge to step aside.
Both Howard Hanna and Berkshire Hathaway Energy have also requested to move the Gibson commission lawsuit out of Missouri. They’re seeking to relocate it to Pennsylvania and Iowa, respectively.
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