Appellate
Appellate Victory for Podhurst Orseck Client after Ruling Blocking Ex-Bank CEO’s Bid to Revive Claims
Miami, FL — Florida's Third District Court of Appeal has blocked a former bank executive from pursuing new contract claims against First Horizon Bank, ruling that a summary judgment entered last year permanently closed the door on the long-running litigation.
Podhurst Orseck partners Ramon Rasco and Ricardo Martinez-Cid represent First Horizon Bank, formerly known as Gibraltar Bank.
The three-judge panel concluded that a final summary judgment entered in July 2025 stripped the trial court of any authority to entertain a subsequently filed amended complaint from Steven Hayworth, the former chief executive of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust.
“This ruling, after 10 years of hard-fought litigation, means that Hayworth cannot pursue – and the trial court has no jurisdiction to entertain – Hayworth’s contract claims against the Bank. It’s an important victory because Hayworth was seeking over $10 million in damages through his contract claims,” said Ramon Rasco.
Hayworth's legal troubles stem from the aftermath of one of South Florida's most notorious financial frauds. Attorney Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty in 2010 to orchestrating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme operated through his Fort Lauderdale law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA. Gibraltar Private Bank, where Rothstein was a significant client and investor, became entangled in the fallout, ultimately settling with the bankruptcy trustee overseeing Rothstein's collapsed firm.
Hayworth, who co-founded Gibraltar in 1993, alleged that the bank used him as a scapegoat in the wake of that settlement. He sued the bank in 2016 for breach of his employment agreement and fraud.
A portion of Hayworth’s contract claims were dismissed in 2018 because he had not yet received required approval from federal banking regulators to pursue them. While waiting years for that clearance, Hayworth's remaining tort claims were eventually resolved against him through summary judgment in July 2025.
Rather than appeal that ruling, Hayworth obtained a letter from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in August 2025 granting him the regulatory approval he had long been waiting for, and he filed a third amended complaint. The trial court allowed it to proceed, citing fairness grounds. The appellate court disagreed, finding that the summary judgment had conclusively ended the case and that no avenue remained to revive it at the trial level.
“Following this appellate ruling and the trial court’s prior summary judgment ruling, all of Hayworth’s claims against the Bank have now been fully and finally dismissed with prejudice. We are glad to have achieved a complete victory for the Bank,” said Rasco.
Gibraltar Private Bank was acquired by IberiaBank in 2018, which subsequently merged with First Horizon.
“We are pleased with the Court's ruling and that we can finally put this distraction behind us,” said Ricardo Martinez-Cid.