PiPress Publisher Threatens Legal Action Over Hirings

Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder defended himself from accusations that he’d downloaded sensitive information from a company laptop after announcing he’d be leaving the Pioneer Press, where he was publisher until March 5. “I discussed the terms of my departure in detail — including the return of my laptop — with MediaNews and Pioneer Press executives and made all the necessary arrangements to leave appropriately and in good faith,” he said in a statement issued Friday. The chief operating officer at PiPress parent company MediaNews denied Ridder’s exit interview went into such detail.

“This disagreement has been further escalated by personal attacks on me by the current publisher of the Pioneer Press,” he said. Fred Mott, the St. Paul paper’s interim publisher, said he would be taking legal action against the Star Tribune for hiring away a senior employee, Jennifer Parratt, who will replace Monica Moses overseeing the paper’s niche publications.  Parratt, said Mott, has a clause in her contract with the Pioneer Press that prohibits her from working for the competition within one year of leaving the St. Paul paper.

“If she somehow thinks she can break a contract, we are going to pursue that through legal channels,” Mott said. He didn’t say when such a suit would be filed.

He added that he’s learned from PiPress employees that Ridder had approached seven or eight other mid- and upper-level managers in an attempt to bring them over to the Strib. He reportedly isn’t worried about more employees crossing the river.

“I trust them,” he said.