Friday, December 07, 2007

Par Ridder resigns from Star Tribune

By Matt McKinney
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Par Ridder resigned from the Star Tribune on Friday, nine months after taking over as publisher.

The resignation was announced by company spokeswoman Sally Nelson and coincided with the settlement of a la
wsuit filed against the Star Tribune over Ridder's hire.

The events bring to an end Ridder's turbulent tenure as head of the paper, one that inspired a lawsuit by his previous employer, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, just weeks after he began.

The suit accused Ridder of breaking a noncompete agreement, hiring St. Paul executives away from the paper in violation of other agreements, and taking a laptop computer containing confidential St. Paul data.

Ridder, after a June temporary injunction hearing, had been barred from the newspaper's offices by a court o
rder since Sept. 18.

District Court Judge David Higgs dismissed the lawsuit Friday afternoon, keeping in place the injunction that prevents Ridder from working at the Star Tribune. The Minneapolis paper was also ordered to pay legal fees incurred by the Pioneer Press.

The order allows advertising executive Jennifer Parratt to start work at the Star Tribune on Jan. 1.

Parratt, a former executive at the Pioneer Press, had been ordered to stay at home after Ridder hired her away from St. Paul.

"We are happy to report that this litigation has been fully resolved," Chris Harte, publisher and chairman of the Star Tribune Co., said in a statement.

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