Lawyer says Haslam testimony supports Berkshire's bribery allegations in Pilot truck stop chain suit

abcnews.go.com:

An attorney for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathway says testimony from billionaire Jimmy Haslam supports Berkshire's claim that Haslam tried to bribe employees at the Pilot truck stop chain amid a dispute over the company's future

DOVER, Del. — Deposition testimony from billionaire Jimmy Haslam supports claims by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathway that Haslam tried to bribe employees at the Pilot truck stop chain amid a dispute with Berkshire over the future of the company, a Berkshire attorney told a judge Thursday.

In a deposition Tuesday, Haslam denied offering a “side payment” to Pilot Travel Centers controller David Clothier if the Haslam family exercises its right to sell its remaining 20% stake in PTC to Berkshire, attorney Ryan Stottmann told Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn.

Just minutes later, however, Haslam testified that he has an informal agreement with two dozen PTC employees to reinstate their lucrative executive bonus plan if the Haslams sell their stake in the company, according to Stottmann.

Stottmann described Haslam’s admission as “stunning,” given that attorneys for Haslam’s Pilot Corp. have told the judge that Berkshire’s bribery allegations were false, meritless and “wild inventions.”

“Their own client has now confirmed under oath that these were not inventions, but that the shadow executive compensation plan actually exists,” Stottmann said.

At a hearing earlier this month, an attorney for Haslam told Zurn that federal prosecutors had begun an investigation based on Berkshire’s bribery allegations.

On Thursday, Zurn granted a request by Berkshire to take additional deposition testimony from Haslam after the Cleveland Browns owner was repeatedly instructed by his lawyer during this week’s deposition