Pioneer Press wins first round in lawsuit against Star Tribune.
A Ramsey County District Court judge has granted a request from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that they be allowed to search at least a dozen computers owned or used by Minneapolis Star Tribune employees over concerns that the Minneapolis paper obtained its main competitor's confidential advertising information.
The judge also granted a request from the St. Paul paper that the Star Tribune's director of niche publications, Jennifer Parratt, be temporarily suspended from her job. Parratt, who was hired away from the Pioneer Press, started with the Star Tribune on Tuesday.
The St. Paul paper has alleged that Parratt broke a noncompete agreement when she took the new post at the Star Tribune and now poses an unfair threat to their advertising business.
The Star Tribune has maintained that since March 29, the day that Par Ridder received a letter from Pioneer Press attorney Dominic Cecere accusing him of carrying St. Paul's confidential information to Minneapolis on his Pioneer Press laptop computer, the paper has taken steps to identify and sequester or remove that information from the Star Tribune.
"We understand the judge's decision to preserve the status quo until all the evidence can be gathered and heard, and we will fully comply with the order," Star Tribune spokesman Ben Taylor said in a statement. "We're anxious to get a full hearing on the merits and look forward to presenting our case as soon as possible."
The Star Tribune has 48 hours to turn over the computers, which will be searched for any Pioneer Press information. Parratt, who was at work Friday morning, left the building when the order was issued.
The order also asks the Star Tribune to turn over all Pioneer Press paper files, including the noncompete agreements for Ridder and Parratt. The lawsuit accuses Ridder of taking the agreements with him when he left St. Paul.
[Source: Matt McKinney in the Star Tribune]
Read the court order in pdf file
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