Federal Judge Rejects Village Voice Ploy To Avoid Collection Of Judgment
A United States District Judge has rejected the attempts of Village Voice Media LLC and Village Voice Media Holdings LLC to avoid a state court proceeding where they may be added to the $21 million judgment in favor of the Bay Guardian Company against the Village Voice chain’s holding company, New Times Media LLC.
The Bay Guardian Company won its judgment after a lengthy jury trial examined claims of predatory pricing against the San Francisco alternative news weekly, by one of the Village Voice chain newspapers, the SF Weekly.
On Wednesday, Federal judge Jeffrey S. White rejected the claims of the two Village Voice companies that the matter should be heard in federal court. The Bay Guardian had previously moved to add the two Village Voice companies to the judgment in state court.
Judge White also rejected a jurisdictional challenge by the two Village Voice companies.
In past weeks, the San Francisco Superior Court has allowed the Bay Guardian to seize and auction off two of the SF Weekly’s trucks, impound revenues that the SF Weekly was receiving from its subtenants, and place a lien on the 16 operating entities of the Village Voice chain that publish alternative news weeklys nationwide.
A hearing on the Bay Guardian’s original motion to add the two Village Voice companies to the judgment is expected soon.