SC Johnson trucking kickback case to head to jury

Lawyer says carrier had no choice but to go along with scheme cooked up by Johnson's former transportation director.

The Associated Press

2/22/2008

RACINE, Wis. — The lawyer for the owner of a trucking company that once hauled products for S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. said his client was involved in a kickback scheme but the consumer products giant doesn't deserve $100 million in damages.

James Murray said his client, Thomas Buske, had no choice but to go along with the scheme cooked up by Milton Morris, SC Johnson's former transportation director.

SC Johnson has sued Morris, Buske and about a dozen other defendants, claiming a kickback scheme cost it $100 million. The Racine-based maker of products such as Ziploc and Glade, alleges Morris worked with several companies, including Buske's, to inflate prices and pocket some of the money.

The lawyers gave their closing arguments Friday in a trial that started in late January. Jurors have heard from more than a dozen witnesses.

SC Johnson said the trucking companies submitted inflated invoices and then gave some of the money back to Morris and his deputy, Katherine Scheller, who was also named in the suit. The money was transferred through poker games, rounds of golf, travel, cash and other gifts, according to the lawsuit filed in 2004.

No criminal charges have been filed.

There's no excuse for Buske's actions, Murray said. But SC Johnson knew what Morris was up to and didn't stop it. He also said trucking companies like Buske Lines Inc. in Edwardsville, Ill., had to go along with the scheme to stay in business.

"We can't defend Tom Buske's decision to pay but we can suggest to you that there were consequences should he have chosen to refuse to make those payments," Murray told jurors. "He knew and you know what happened to carriers that didn't go along with Mr. Morris."

Buske's role in the scheme cost SC Johnson $4.1 million, Murray said. He claimed that was similar to a commission a trucking company would have paid to get a contract with a company like SC Johnson and the costs essentially canceled each other out.

Buske refused to testify under the Fifth Amendment, which protects a defendant from incriminating himself.

SC Johnson attorney Jeffrey Willian spoke for about two hours earlier in the day, describing hundreds of thousands in payments made or owed to Morris over roughly 10 years. Morris was caught in 2004 and subsequently fired.

"I hope you can see by now this case is not just about damages," Willian told the jury. "It's about what you as a society have to say about an ongoing organized pattern of fraud."

Defendants in the case also include Tom Russell of Racine, and his company, JMP Intermodal Inc.

Morris conceded liability and agreed to allow the court to assess a penalty at the conclusion of the trial, according to documents filed with the court.