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Joele Frank is working with Barnes & Noble in the bookseller’s nasty squabble with former CEO Demos Parneros, who was fired in July after 15 months at the helm.
The ousted CEO fired back at B&N by filing a federal suit in Manhattan on Aug. 28, charging the bookseller breached his employment contract by denying severance and claiming misconduct, which Parneros denies.
The suit contends that Paneros, who joined B&N in April 2017, was making progress at improving the company's perfromance and was canned because a deal to sell B&N fell through.
New York-based B&N released a Aug. 28 response to Parneros’ suit, saying it is nothing more than “an attempt to extort money from the company by a CEO who was terminated for sexual harassment, bullying behavior and other violations of company policies after being in the role for approximately one year.”
It also says Parneros’ charge that B&N founder Leonard Reggio is “volatile and out of control” is “replete with lies and mischaracterizations.”
B&N suffered a $125.5M loss for fiscal 2018 (ended April 28) compared to a year earlier profit of $22M. Revenues for fiscal 2018 dipped six percent to $3.6B. Fiscal 2019 first-quarter financials will be released Sept. 6.
Joele Frank, Wilkinson, Brimmer Katcher has Kelly Sullivan, Jamie Moser and Tanner Kaufman working on the legal battle.
They are assisting B-N’s Mary Ellen Keating (senior VP-corporate communications) and Andy Milevoj (VP-investor relations & corporate finance) in the Parneros matter.
Longacre Square Partners has formalized its litigation & complex disputes practice under COO Rebecca Kral.
Vision Americas International has filed a $1.3M contract to provide communications and PA support to Vinson & Elkins to backstop its legal work on behalf of the ad hoc board of Petroleos de Venezuela, the US recognized representative of the state-owned energy giant.
FGS Global handles Albertsons Co. as it sues former merger partner Kroger for failing to fight for approval of the deal after it was blocked by a federal judge.
Michael Frishberg, who was global COO at Kroll financial and risk advisory, has signed on as a senior advisor at C Street Advisory Group.
A 30-year industry vet gives a look inside the Land of the Law from a PR person's perspective.
