Strib’s Ridder Testifies That He Took, Shared PiPress Financial Data
Monday, June 25, 2007 at 12:38 pm
- 10 Comments
In videotaped testimony played in Ramsey County District Court today, Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder acknowledged he copied confidential financial documents onto a portable hard drive before leaving his old employer, the Pioneer Press, and said he shared the information on personnel matters, advertising and profits with managers at the Star Tribune.
William Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews, the Denver-based company that owns the Pioneer Press, was in the courtroom today as a judge heard his paper’s request for a temporary injunction that would prevent Ridder and two other former PiPress executives from working for the Minneapolis paper. At issue are noncompete agreements the Pioneer Press says Ridder, Strib senior vice president of operations Kevin Desmond, and Jennifer Parratt, now director of niche publications, signed when the paper was still owned by Knight Ridder. Par Ridder acknowledged he asked an assistant to shred a stack of noncompete agreements — including his own — on his last day at the St. Paul paper, but changed his mind. He stopped her in the parking ramp as she left work and retrieved the documents himself.
In a legal filing on June 19, the Star Tribune argued that the data Ridder took wouldn’t damage its crosstown rival. In its legal brief, the Pioneer Press said “[t]hese individuals were top executives with firsthand knowledge of [the Pioneer Press'] business strategies, customer relationships, and overall strengths and weaknesses.”
10 Comments
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
What a weasel Born on third base, thinks he hit a triple.
Why does this guy still have a job?
Umm, I shredded the non-competes. So now you can’t hold me to them!
Brilliant reasoning.
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Wow Isn’t this a knock-out punch? He took the confidential info, he shared it. He admits it. He’s outta here, right? Par has become Triple Bogey, and quickly!
Thank you. Thank you.
And yes, the idea that shredding a document means it didn’t exist sounds like something a dumb villain in a Jim Carrey movie would propose.
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 4:32 pm
… It’d seem like it, but I think the Ridder team is hoping their argument that the swiped documents won’t hurt the PiPress will carry some weight. I doubt it will.
BTW, MNspeak has a great thread going of the topic.
And thanks, Paul S., for letting us know you’re not me.
Comment posted June 26, 2007 @ 10:11 am
This confuses me A comment at the mnspeak string you reference, from a certain Beat U2itmaz::
“Maybe conservative bloggers can start the campaign now for Governor Pawlenty to pardon Par Ridder, because as everyone knows, Bill Clinton and Sandy Berger commited far worse crimes, and the lapdog liberal media is covering it up.”
Why does Beat perceive that local conservatives would ever claim Par Ridder? Is it because he’s corporate? Corporate equals conservative hero, no matter the context? No matter the conservative, even?
The conservatives are more tending toward chortling. ‘Let’s stand back and watch,’ is the attitude so far.
Comment posted June 26, 2007 @ 11:56 am
Credibility is Gone. Long Gone. The Star Tribune’s willingness to cheat and connive as standard business practice, and then spend hundreds of thousands of dollars covering the legal a– of its silver-spoon publisher (chief cheater and conniver) strips that newspaper of any credibility in serving the “watchdog” role in this community. Politicians, CEOs, sports team owners: Have at it! Ethics are for the weak and naive. Truth and fairness just product to be pushed when convenient for the Strib.
More buyouts, please.
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 9:27 am
What a weasel Born on third base, thinks he hit a triple.
Why does this guy still have a job?
Umm, I shredded the non-competes. So now you can't hold me to them!
Brilliant reasoning.
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Wow Isn't this a knock-out punch? He took the confidential info, he shared it. He admits it. He's outta here, right? Par has become Triple Bogey, and quickly!
Thank you. Thank you.
And yes, the idea that shredding a document means it didn't exist sounds like something a dumb villain in a Jim Carrey movie would propose.
Comment posted June 25, 2007 @ 11:32 am
… It'd seem like it, but I think the Ridder team is hoping their argument that the swiped documents won't hurt the PiPress will carry some weight. I doubt it will.
BTW, MNspeak has a great thread going of the topic.
And thanks, Paul S., for letting us know you're not me.
Comment posted June 26, 2007 @ 5:11 am
This confuses me A comment at the mnspeak string you reference, from a certain Beat U2itmaz::
“Maybe conservative bloggers can start the campaign now for Governor Pawlenty to pardon Par Ridder, because as everyone knows, Bill Clinton and Sandy Berger commited far worse crimes, and the lapdog liberal media is covering it up.”
Why does Beat perceive that local conservatives would ever claim Par Ridder? Is it because he's corporate? Corporate equals conservative hero, no matter the context? No matter the conservative, even?
The conservatives are more tending toward chortling. 'Let's stand back and watch,' is the attitude so far.
Comment posted June 26, 2007 @ 6:56 am
Credibility is Gone. Long Gone. The Star Tribune's willingness to cheat and connive as standard business practice, and then spend hundreds of thousands of dollars covering the legal a– of its silver-spoon publisher (chief cheater and conniver) strips that newspaper of any credibility in serving the “watchdog” role in this community. Politicians, CEOs, sports team owners: Have at it! Ethics are for the weak and naive. Truth and fairness just product to be pushed when convenient for the Strib.
More buyouts, please.
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