Data deleted in porn purge, Mesa Air says
Data deleted in porn purge, Mesa Air says
HONOLULU - Mesa Air Group said a company executive accidentally deleted computer data related to a lawsuit filed by Hawaiian Airlines while he was purging pornographic material.
Hawaiian Airlines alleges that Peter Murnane, chief financial officer of the Phoenix-based regional airline, destroyed evidence including Hawaiian's business plan.
That evidence, the carrier says, could show that Mesa Air misused confidential information to launch interisland carrier go! airlines.
Mesa put Murnane on administrative leave last week.
Hawaiian contends that Mesa Air violated a confidentiality agreement by using proprietary information it gathered as a potential investor during Hawaiian's bankruptcy.
During an evidentiary hearing Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu, Mesa attorney Max Blecher said any deletion of files was unintentional, and that Mesa Air has copies of the deleted files. The hearing continued Wednesday.
"He (Murnane) was cruising on adult Web sites," Blecher said, adding that Murnane was simply trying to delete the porn sites on three computers when the Hawaiian documents were deleted.
Hawaiian attorney Sidney Levinson called Mesa's reference to pornography "a transparent effort to distract the court's attention and undermine the credibility of one of Mesa's most senior officers."
"You have to wonder why Mesa thinks that smearing their own star witness with allegations of pornography benefits them," Levinson said.
Blecher said he's optimistic about Mesa's chances of prevailing when the trial begins.
"They can't point to anything deleted that doesn't exist," he said.
In addition to monetary damages, Hawaiian is seeking an injunction barring go! from selling tickets for one year.
Since go! started in June 2006, interisland airfares have dropped by as much as half which has affected the carriers' bottom lines. Hawaiian and Aloha lost a combined $82.1 million last year.
Hawaiian Airlines alleges that Peter Murnane, chief financial officer of the Phoenix-based regional airline, destroyed evidence including Hawaiian's business plan.
That evidence, the carrier says, could show that Mesa Air misused confidential information to launch interisland carrier go! airlines.
Mesa put Murnane on administrative leave last week.
Hawaiian contends that Mesa Air violated a confidentiality agreement by using proprietary information it gathered as a potential investor during Hawaiian's bankruptcy.
During an evidentiary hearing Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu, Mesa attorney Max Blecher said any deletion of files was unintentional, and that Mesa Air has copies of the deleted files. The hearing continued Wednesday.
"He (Murnane) was cruising on adult Web sites," Blecher said, adding that Murnane was simply trying to delete the porn sites on three computers when the Hawaiian documents were deleted.
Hawaiian attorney Sidney Levinson called Mesa's reference to pornography "a transparent effort to distract the court's attention and undermine the credibility of one of Mesa's most senior officers."
"You have to wonder why Mesa thinks that smearing their own star witness with allegations of pornography benefits them," Levinson said.
Blecher said he's optimistic about Mesa's chances of prevailing when the trial begins.
"They can't point to anything deleted that doesn't exist," he said.
In addition to monetary damages, Hawaiian is seeking an injunction barring go! from selling tickets for one year.
Since go! started in June 2006, interisland airfares have dropped by as much as half which has affected the carriers' bottom lines. Hawaiian and Aloha lost a combined $82.1 million last year.
posted by Maxwell Hammer @ 9/27/2007 08:22:00 AM
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