Dollar General drops lawsuit versus message board writer
Read more: Dollar General drops lawsuit versus message board writer - Nashville Business Journal:
Friday, July 16, 2004
Dollar General Corp. has dropped its lawsuit against an individual who posted closely held financial information about the retailer on a Yahoo! message board.
The Goodlettsville-based company (NYSE: DG) on July 1 filed a motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice against Yahoo! user dolgeniv, ending the seven-month-old case.
Dollar General disclosed in a filing with Davidson County Chancery Court that dolgeniv hadn't been served with the case or received a summons.
Spokesperson Emma Jo Kauffman declined to give a reason for the voluntary dismissal, citing company policy not to comment on lawsuits. Doug Pierce, the King & Ballow attorney who represented Dollar General in the case, was out of town and couldn't be reached.
The original lawsuit stemmed from comments dolgeniv posted on Oct. 29, Nov. 3, Nov. 6, Nov. 7, Nov. 16, Dec. 4 and Dec. 12. Dolgeniv, whose true identity isn't known, said sales were falling below estimates going into last year's holiday season and that the company was planning steep discounts, among other information.
Accusing the poster of "willfully and maliciously" misappropriating and disclosing financial data and proprietary information, Dollar General filed suit in Nashville late last year. The company wanted an injunction against dolgeniv and reimbursed court costs.
Since the suit was filed, no messages from the dolgeniv user name have been posted on the Yahoo! message board.
Some in the legal community questioned the strength of Dollar General's argument, saying it would have a hard time obtaining prior restraint if the poster wasn't an employee.
The case against dolgeniv resembled another filed by Dollar General in July 2002. The company then sought an injunction against Yahoo! user mslefxr, but dropped its case in January 2003.
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