Piecemakers settle harassment lawsuit

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- An long-standing dispute between the Piecemakers, a

religious group, and the son of one of its members has come to an end.

The Piecemakers settled its harassment lawsuit against Thomas

Halliburton, son of a 20-year member, in a court-ordered arbitration last

week.

“It looks like they’ve resolved things,” said Stuart Wallach, attorney

for the Piecemakers. “I just hope that this lays everything to rest.”

After a judge dismissed four previous claims against Halliburton by

the Piecemakers, the group filed a lawsuit in April alleging he picketed

in front of the Piecemakers County Store on Adams Avenue and sent e-mail

messages to customers describing the group as a mind-controlling cult,

both of which caused the crafts shop to lose business.

Halliburton, who has said he blames the group for his estrangement

with his mother, filed a counter suit in May, alleging the group is

abusing the legal system.

In August, a judge ordered the Piecemakers and Halliburton to try to

reach a settlement through arbitration.

Under the terms of the settlement, Halliburton has signed an apology

to the Piecemakers and will pay for $4,000 of the group’s fees -- a

quarter of the cost of defending a full-blown trial, said Joseph Donahue,

Halliburton’s attorney.

Halliburton’s apology is posted on the Piecemakers Web site at o7

https://www.piecemakers.comf7 . It states: “In an effort to bring closure

to a very acrimonious dispute, I hereby express my regret that, in a

period of frustration, I communicated by e-mail with customers of

Piecemakers on the Internet in such a way as to have caused grief and

possible financial loss to Piecemakers. I agree to refrain from maligning

Piecemakers in any way in the future.”

For their part of the agreement, members of the Piecemakers said they

agreed not to comment on the arbitration or the settlement.

“We are at a time in history the Bible calls ‘our evil days,’ when

people call evil good and good evil,” the Piecemakers state in a press

release. “Consequently, the outcome in the Piecemakers v. Halliburton

lawsuit was a gentle slap on the wrist for the defendant. When the

punishment fits the crime there is vindication and forgiveness from God

that cancels out the wrong done. This certainly did not happen in the

arbitration.”

Donahue said Halliburton agreed to the settlement strictly for

economic reasons, but he added the Piecemakers may have violated the

agreement by posting comments about the settlement on the Web and by

sending press releases.

“No sooner did the ink dry on the settlement agreement than the

Piecemakers went out and breached the spirit and the intent of the

agreement,” Donahue said. “At no time was this supposed to be a public

apology, despite what the Web site says, and we never agreed to that

preamble. We believe in the strength and nature of our defense, but from

a purely economical standpoint, it made sense to pay the money to make

the nightmare go away, along with the people who make it a nightmare --

the Piecemakers. My client was basically tired of being involved in

litigation and wanted to get on with his life.”

The Piecemakers and Halliburton will meet Dec. 12 to present Superior

Court Judge Sheila Fell with a status report on the settlement.