MINNEAPOLIS, July 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Late Wednesday, advertisers filed an updated Complaint in light of key developments in the lawsuit against the Star Tribune and its parent company, The McClatchy Co. (NYSE:MNI). Employment agencies who advertise in the Star Tribune filed the Amended Complaint in Federal Court claiming that the newspaper overstated its paid circulation rates, resulting in fraudulently inflated prices. The Amended Complaint exposes the Star Tribune's practice of requiring distributors and agents to order surplus papers; it asserts that the Star Tribune required distributors to attest that their return rates - a measure of unsold papers - were not more than 18-19% when, in fact, they were much greater.
According to Boris Parker, one of the attorneys representing the employment agencies, "Since the filing of the Complaint, a number of distributors and agents have come forward and confirmed that they too were forced to order surplus papers and provide inaccurate information to the agency that audits the Star Tribune's paid circulation figures." Parker added, "After the Star Tribune denied the earlier allegations, these people felt compelled to do the right thing and come forward with what they know. We encourage others to do the same."
Advertisers are suing the Star Tribune, alleging that the newspaper inflated its paid circulation rates, resulting in higher, unjustified advertising rates. The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and seeks reimbursement for the overpayments during the past 6 years.
The Minneapolis law firms of Zimmerman Reed, PLLP, Halunen & Associates, and Saliterman & Siefferman represent the advertisers.
A copy of the Amended Complaint is available at www.zimmreed.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca