VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY ERIC J. BONETTI, Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NUMBER: CL 2020 007578
vs. KELLY GABLE, Defendant
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION COMES NOW PLAINTIFF, Eric Bonetti, and respectfully submits this motion for reconsideration of defendant’s plea in bar of the statute of limitations. 1.
In her responses to Plaintiff’s requests for admission, defendant admits that she sent the defamatory email in question in her role as a vestry member of Grace Episcopal Church. Exhibit A
2.
As a vestry member, Defendant served in a fiduciary capacity to Grace Episcopal Church.
3.
As a fiduciary, Defendant had an obligation to ensure that Grace Episcopal Church acted in accordance with the law.
4.
The email in question was squarely within the ambit of instant Plaintiff’s discovery request. Exhibit B
5.
It is undisputed that Grace Episcopal Church had affirmative legal obligation and duty produce the document in question during discovery in the previous legal case.
6.
The email in question was readily available to Grace Episcopal Church, either directly from Bob Malm (not a defendant in the present case), or from the diocese, or from vestry members. Apropos the latter, this included but was not limited to Defendant.
7.
Having not produced the relevant email, nor offered any reasonable explanation for their failure to do so, it is reasonable to conclude that Grace Episcopal Church and Mr. Malm fraudulently concealed the document during discovery.
8.
It is axiomatic that a fiduciary such as Defendant should not be permitted to turn a blind eye to misconduct on the part of the organization they serve, then invoke that very same misconduct in order to shield themselves from liability under the law.
1
9.
Nor does Defendant and the church she represents come before this court with clean hands, for on multiple occasions in the previous litigation the church proferred statements of law and fact that it knew, or reasonably could be expected to know, were false. Moreover, in two instances, the church, acting via agent/employee Robert H. Malm, proferred sworn statements under oath during discovery that constituted perjury. These included the representation that Plaintiff’s mother, then dying of COPD, or someone purporting to be her, contacted the church repeatedly to set up appointments and no-showed. This simply did not happen.
10. To now permit Defendant to invoke the very same fraudulent concealment of evidence that she, as a fiduciary, had a duty to prevent, in order to escape potential liability, is to incentivize organizational misconduct during the discovery process and would create a manifest injustice. 11. Plaintiff therefore respectfully asks this Court to reject Ms. Gable’s plea of the statute of limitations, or to toll the relevant statute of limitations pursuant to Va. Code § 8.01-229 (D). Alternatively, Plaintiff requests that the Court defer a decision on Defendant’s plea, pending introduction of further evidence of bad faith and fraudulent concealment on the part of Defendant Kelly Gable, Grace Episcopal Church and Mr. Malm.
ERIC J. BONETTI Pro Se Plaintiff 4129 Fountainside Lane 203 Fairfax VA 22030 eric.bonetti@me.com
2
Exhibit A
3
Exhibit B
4