A former employee of William Koch can refile a lawsuit alleging the billionaire energy-company executive held him captive at a Colorado ranch, ruled a judge, who said it’s “not a case that’s just going to go away.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco dismissed Kirby Martensen’s lawsuit at a hearing Thursday, giving him leave to file again to address the issue of whether his case should be brought in another jurisdiction.
The judge said she “didn’t buy” Koch’s arguments that, because he had his mobile phone, Martensen can’t claim he was falsely imprisoned at Koch’s ranch over two days in March and in his private jet. She also said a claim by a Koch lawyer that there’s no evidence people at the ranch were acting as Koch’s agents “isn’t plausible.”
“The allegations are sufficient to allege false imprisonment,” Corley said. She said a question remained whether to try the case in California or elsewhere.
John Hueston, Koch’s lawyer, said the suit should be dismissed or brought in Colorado or Florida. While Martensen alleges he was flown in Koch’s jet to California after leaving the ranch, that’s not sufficient to bring the lawsuit in California, Hueston told Corley.
