Hagyard, Veterinarians Ask for Dismissal of Lawsuit

Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates and four of its vet partners named in a lawsuit that claims a buyer at the Keeneland sales was harmed by the vets falsifying dates on radiographs to meet sale deadline requirements have asked that the suit be dismissed because the plaintiff has failed to show damages.

In three Feb. 25 filings with Fayette (Ky.) Circuit Court, Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates and vets Michael T. Hore, Dwayne Rodgerson, Michael Spirito, and Robert J. Hunt called for the lawsuit filed Feb. 7 by Illinois-based owner-trainer Tom Swearingen be dismissed because the plaintiff has failed to show anything more than "abstract and hypothetical damages."

A filing on behalf of three of the vets, Hore, Rodgerson, and Spirito, claims that there is no allegation that the plaintiff relied upon a radiograph taken by any of the defendants, there is no allegation that any radiograph taken by one of the defendants reviewed by the plaintiff actually was misdated, and there is no allegation that the plaintiff relied upon a radiograph that contained an actual material misrepresentation.

The vets involved all self-reported to the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners that they had modified dates on radiographs submitted to the Keeneland repository. While the vets involved were sanctioned, that regulatory board in its decision also included this statement: "The board agrees and acknowledges that there is no evidence that any radiograph taken by the respondent (each of the Hagyard vets) did not accurately reflect the condition of the horse." 

In terms of actual impact on the plaintiff, the lawsuit states Swearingen deserves compensatory and punitive damages because he relied on the authenticity and accuracy of the radiographs in the repository, both in respect to the content displayed and the date on which it was taken, in purchasing 24 horses for a total of $432,600 from January 2007 through September 2016. In fact, the lawsuit states if the plaintiff had been aware that a percentage of radiographs in the repository had altered dates, he would not have participated in the sale in the first place and never would have purchased any of the 24 horses.

Monday's dismissal requests argue that the complaint fails to show how Swearingen was damaged.