My wife once sued the hockey team

I wrote a story today about the Wichita Thunder owing more than $74,000 in sales taxes to the state.

As I’ve said on this blog from the beginning, I’m married to a lawyer, Gaye Tibbets, and don’t cover cases in which she appears as the attorney.

As a plaintiffs’ lawyer, Gaye sued the Thunder and its parent company, on behalf of former general manager Bill Shuck over benefits under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. She filed the case in 2003, two years before we were married. When the case went to trial in November 2004, it forced the team into bankruptcy. We were married the following February.

In 2005, a federal judge awarded Shuck $105,711.16 in unpaid medical expenses and $65,017.35 in attorneys fees. No money was ever collected in the case, however, because of the Thunder’s bankruptcy.

There has been no activity in that case for five years.

The editors of the Wichita Eagle determined there was no conflict of interest my reporting the story about the tax warrant filed this week.

This story was originally published July 3, 2010 at 2:58 PM with the headline "My wife once sued the hockey team."