Appeals Court Overturns $5 Million Award for MyPillow CEO
A federal appeals court has reversed a $5 million arbitration ruling that favored software developer Robert Zeidman, who previously claimed he could disprove MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s allegations of foreign interference in the 2020 election.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the arbitration panel had exceeded its authority by altering the clear terms of the contest agreement to justify the award. The decision was unanimous.
“Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court,” noted U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken in the 12-page opinion.
Lindell had initially lost the case in the first instance, but this recent appellate ruling effectively alleviates him of any liability, unless further legal actions are taken.
Back in 2021, Lindell organized a “Cyber Symposium” in South Dakota, during which he presented data claiming that China interfered in then-President Biden’s election victory. He had offered a $5 million prize to anyone who could prove that his data was not related to the election in any way.
Software developer Robert Zeidman soon entered the contest, submitting a 15-page report that he argued demonstrated flaws in Lindell’s data. However, the contest judges concluded that Zeidman was not entitled to the prize. Following this, Zeidman sought arbitration to settle the issue.
After a hearing, the arbitration panel sided with Zeidman, asserting that he had successfully shown that Lindell didn’t provide essential packet capture data, or PCAP files, thus indicating that the data was indeed unrelated to the 2020 election.
“We conclude that the panel effectively amended the unambiguous Challenge contract when it used extrinsic evidence to require that the data provided was packet capture data, thereby violating established principles of Minnesota contract law and our arbitration precedents,” Loken elaborated in the ruling.
The new ruling instructs the lower court to either annul the $5 million arbitration award or proceed with further actions aligned with the appellate court’s finding.
Brian Glasser, Zeidman’s attorney, defended the arbitration panel’s original decision. He suggested that readers could form their own opinions about the credibility of the appellate court’s judgment compared to the unanimous conclusion of the arbitration panel.
“Your readers can judge for themselves if the Eight Circuit’s decision today is more persuasive, or rings in truth louder, than the unanimous contrary decision of three arbitrators who heard all the evidence,” Glasser mentioned in an email.
In a related legal matter, a Colorado jury recently ordered Lindell to pay $2.3 million in damages to a former Dominion Voting Systems employee who had sued him for defamation.
“Before those would ever even get to trial, you’re going to see what the ‘big win’ will be, as you watch me melting down these machines and turning them into prison bars. That’s my big win,” Lindell remarked.
