Contractor alleges court conspiracy deprived him of $20M, his rights

A lawsuit presents only one side of a case.

A Mangham contractor alleges that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport worked together to wrongly dismiss his suit.

In 2015, a jury in the 4th Judicial District Court awarded Jeff Mercer $20 million in a suit against the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and four individual defendants — Willis Jenkins, Michael Murphy, John Eason and Barry Lacy.

Mercer alleged that in 2007 he was asked for a bribe. Failure to provide the bribe caused him to be shut out of contracts and he wasn't paid for work already completed. Additionally, he said the DOTD reported him to the FBI for investigation, and those charges were later dropped.

As a result, his company closed. The $20 million requested accounted for lost future income, in line with the company's profits when it was shuttered.

Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2019/09/30/contractor-alleges-court-conspiracy-deprived-him-of-20-m-his-rights/3791319002/