 |
| The Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, where Superior Court Judge Robert C. Wilson dismissed a lawsuit filed by North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record, against a former executive. |
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
In a 40-page decision, a Superior Court judge in Hackensack ruled North Jersey Media Group's fraud allegations against former executive Peter Van Lenten Jr. and four other defendants were completely without merit.
"The lawsuit is clearly an example of 'buyer's remorse,'" Judge Robert C. Wilson wrote, dismissing NJMG's interpretation of New Jersey laws.
"At its core, this case is plaintiff's retrospective analysis of its business relationship with the defendants."
In addition to the estate of Van Lenten, NJMG vice president of information technology until April 2009, other defendants were vendors IC System Solutions and Computer Network Solutions; and ICSS executives Philip Nolan and Nancy Nolan.
The suit claimed NJMG, publisher of The Record, paid more than $2 million "on false/and or inflated invoices" from 2001 to 2009, and an additional $1 million for temporary workers hired at "greatly inflated charges."
Sour grapes
"NJMG now 'feels' that it engaged in some poor business transactions ... and belatedly seeks reimbursement from the defendants," the judge noted in his ruling, which was filed on Feb. 18.
"The law ... does not provide a right to institute legal proceedings against your deceased ... employee [Van Lenten died in April 2010] by simply claiming fraud without any actual proof.
"NJMG had a duty to have internal financial and management controls to avoid such a claimed calamity."
"There are no facts demonstrating fraud by any of the defendants," the judge said, granting summary judgment and dismissing NJMG's suit with prejudice, meaning it can never be brought back to court.
Borg, Samaro et al
"At its core, this case is plaintiff's retrospective analysis of its business relationship with the defendants."
In addition to the estate of Van Lenten, NJMG vice president of information technology until April 2009, other defendants were vendors IC System Solutions and Computer Network Solutions; and ICSS executives Philip Nolan and Nancy Nolan.
The suit claimed NJMG, publisher of The Record, paid more than $2 million "on false/and or inflated invoices" from 2001 to 2009, and an additional $1 million for temporary workers hired at "greatly inflated charges."
Sour grapes
"NJMG now 'feels' that it engaged in some poor business transactions ... and belatedly seeks reimbursement from the defendants," the judge noted in his ruling, which was filed on Feb. 18.
"The law ... does not provide a right to institute legal proceedings against your deceased ... employee [Van Lenten died in April 2010] by simply claiming fraud without any actual proof.
"NJMG had a duty to have internal financial and management controls to avoid such a claimed calamity."
"There are no facts demonstrating fraud by any of the defendants," the judge said, granting summary judgment and dismissing NJMG's suit with prejudice, meaning it can never be brought back to court.
Borg, Samaro et al
Left unanswered is why NJMG Vice President/ General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg, Pashman Stein attorney Samuel J. Samaro and other hired guns from the Hackensack law firm pursued the litigation for nearly two years.
In effect, Borg squandered legal fees that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and that's on top of the $3 million "fraud" alleged in the baseless suit.
In effect, Borg squandered legal fees that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and that's on top of the $3 million "fraud" alleged in the baseless suit.
The costly, embarrassing miscalculation exposes NJMG's longtime practice of closely monitoring the computers and telephones of employees in the newsroom, but not paying any attention to what its executives are doing.
A glaring example was the sexual-harassment suit filed against Jennifer Borg's father, NJMG Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, by Tracey McCain, who worked for Van Lenten and whose duties included reading his emails.
That case, which alleged the elder Borg sent emails containing pornography to Van Lenten and other managers and supervisors, was settled in September 2011 for an undisclosed amount of money.
570 days of discovery
Judge Wilson noted that about 18,000 pages of discovery (sworn testimony and other evidence) were exchanged "over the course of five hundred and seventy days," ending on Dec. 14, 2014.
In addition, about 200 statements of fact were filed.
Defendants ICSS and CNS were IT vendors who did business with NJMG from 2001-09.
Security cameras
One project was the installation of 18 security cameras at NJMG's printing plant in Rockaway Township at a cost of nearly $282,000.
The judge noted Van Lenten was not required to seek "competitive proposals" as vice president of IT.
The vendors also sold NJMG annual maintenance contracts for the cameras "at $33,000 a year."
In a certification filed with the court, NJMG Facilities Manager Frank Devetori "belatedly" testified he could account for only nine of the 18 cameras, and that maintenance was never performed.
Document software
NJMG also purchased LibertyNet, a document management software, for $84,800, but decided not to use it in the Human Resources Department as planned.
ICSS made a profit of about 600% on the sale of LibertyNet, the judge noted.
And even though the software was never used, ICSS submitted three invoices for maintenance, "each totaling in excess of $11,000."
ICSS also billed NJMG more than $70,000 a year from 2005-08 for a service called "NOC" to detect "security intrusions" into the publishing company's computer network.
NOC was provided by the other vendor, CNS, which installed two machines at $15,000 to $20,000 each, the judge said, but NJMG claimed it "simply did not need or use" the service.
These and other monitoring and maintenance services cost NJMG more than $170,000 a year, "and now NJMG claims they were never needed or used, in spite of the fact that NJMG was freely paying for them," Wilson wrote.
There's more
Judge Wilson also said Van Lenten sought to upgrade NJMG's email system to a platform known as Microsoft 2007.
But the contract for $477,900 was awarded to CNS "without competitive bidding, price negotiation or comparison shopping" ... "and the system never got past Microsoft 2003."
Jon Markey
The judge noted Van Lenten was introduced to Philip Nolan of ICSS by Jon Markey, former NJMG president.
When he ascended to NJMG's throne, Stephen A. Borg took the titles of publisher and president, replacing both his father and Markey.
Today's paper
Check out the faces of greedy Weichert real estate agents in an ad wrapped around Page 1 of The Record today.
The actual front page isn't much better.
Burned-out columnist Mike Kelly again hijacks improved relations with Cuba by dredging up events dating to 1998 (A-1).
Kelly's thumbnail photo, complete with shit-eating grin, also appears on the Opinion front, where he has another boring column about a book he wrote (O-1).
How many columns is the man going to write about Joanne Chesimard, and the suicide bombing that killed Sarah Duker of Teaneck in 1996?
Staff Writer Melissa Hayes declares Governor Christie "laid out his dramatic plans" to rescue the state employee pension and health benefit system he tried to destroy in 2011.
How can you trust a so-called Analysis from a reporter who follows him around like a puppy?
At least an editorial on O-2 criticizes Christie for his broken promises, and a Margulies cartoon sums up the pension mess nicely.
Blaming the victim
Some pedestrians seem to have a death wish, but nothing they do eclipses mean-spirited drivers, especially those who run them down in crosswalks.
Today, Road Warrior John Cichowski channels drivers who blame the victim -- the pedestrians themselves (L-1).
The demented reporter seems not to have noticed New York City is now filing criminal charges against drivers who hit pedestrians in crosswalks.
He should be asking why New Jersey isn't doing the same.
Six-figure head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes came up short on local news for today's Sunday section, and a layout editor had to resort to filling the yawning hole with a long wire-service obituary (L-6).
A glaring example was the sexual-harassment suit filed against Jennifer Borg's father, NJMG Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, by Tracey McCain, who worked for Van Lenten and whose duties included reading his emails.
That case, which alleged the elder Borg sent emails containing pornography to Van Lenten and other managers and supervisors, was settled in September 2011 for an undisclosed amount of money.
570 days of discovery
Judge Wilson noted that about 18,000 pages of discovery (sworn testimony and other evidence) were exchanged "over the course of five hundred and seventy days," ending on Dec. 14, 2014.
In addition, about 200 statements of fact were filed.
Defendants ICSS and CNS were IT vendors who did business with NJMG from 2001-09.
Security cameras
One project was the installation of 18 security cameras at NJMG's printing plant in Rockaway Township at a cost of nearly $282,000.
The judge noted Van Lenten was not required to seek "competitive proposals" as vice president of IT.
The vendors also sold NJMG annual maintenance contracts for the cameras "at $33,000 a year."
In a certification filed with the court, NJMG Facilities Manager Frank Devetori "belatedly" testified he could account for only nine of the 18 cameras, and that maintenance was never performed.
Document software
NJMG also purchased LibertyNet, a document management software, for $84,800, but decided not to use it in the Human Resources Department as planned.
ICSS made a profit of about 600% on the sale of LibertyNet, the judge noted.
And even though the software was never used, ICSS submitted three invoices for maintenance, "each totaling in excess of $11,000."
ICSS also billed NJMG more than $70,000 a year from 2005-08 for a service called "NOC" to detect "security intrusions" into the publishing company's computer network.
NOC was provided by the other vendor, CNS, which installed two machines at $15,000 to $20,000 each, the judge said, but NJMG claimed it "simply did not need or use" the service.
These and other monitoring and maintenance services cost NJMG more than $170,000 a year, "and now NJMG claims they were never needed or used, in spite of the fact that NJMG was freely paying for them," Wilson wrote.
There's more
Judge Wilson also said Van Lenten sought to upgrade NJMG's email system to a platform known as Microsoft 2007.
But the contract for $477,900 was awarded to CNS "without competitive bidding, price negotiation or comparison shopping" ... "and the system never got past Microsoft 2003."
Jon Markey
The judge noted Van Lenten was introduced to Philip Nolan of ICSS by Jon Markey, former NJMG president.
When he ascended to NJMG's throne, Stephen A. Borg took the titles of publisher and president, replacing both his father and Markey.
Today's paper
Check out the faces of greedy Weichert real estate agents in an ad wrapped around Page 1 of The Record today.
The actual front page isn't much better.
Burned-out columnist Mike Kelly again hijacks improved relations with Cuba by dredging up events dating to 1998 (A-1).
Kelly's thumbnail photo, complete with shit-eating grin, also appears on the Opinion front, where he has another boring column about a book he wrote (O-1).
How many columns is the man going to write about Joanne Chesimard, and the suicide bombing that killed Sarah Duker of Teaneck in 1996?
Staff Writer Melissa Hayes declares Governor Christie "laid out his dramatic plans" to rescue the state employee pension and health benefit system he tried to destroy in 2011.
How can you trust a so-called Analysis from a reporter who follows him around like a puppy?
At least an editorial on O-2 criticizes Christie for his broken promises, and a Margulies cartoon sums up the pension mess nicely.
Blaming the victim
Some pedestrians seem to have a death wish, but nothing they do eclipses mean-spirited drivers, especially those who run them down in crosswalks.
Today, Road Warrior John Cichowski channels drivers who blame the victim -- the pedestrians themselves (L-1).
The demented reporter seems not to have noticed New York City is now filing criminal charges against drivers who hit pedestrians in crosswalks.
He should be asking why New Jersey isn't doing the same.
Six-figure head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes came up short on local news for today's Sunday section, and a layout editor had to resort to filling the yawning hole with a long wire-service obituary (L-6).
Was Jon Markey and Charles Gibney deposed in the lawsuit? If so what did they have to say? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know.
ReplyDeleteWell there you have it. Fees weren't granted, but the judge was quite scathing.
ReplyDeleteMr Sasson is this why Mr. Van Lenten was fired from NJMG to start with (allegedly defrauding NJMG)? Did these accusations against Mr. Van Lenten
ReplyDeletecontribute to his passing? These accusations which he was found not guilty of.
Thank You.
I am not sure of the cause and effect, but you could make a strong argument that the alleged fraud led to his firing and untimely death.
DeleteThe case also exposes the incompetence of the Pashman Stein law firm, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from North Jersey Media Group.
Was the alleged theft of money from NJMG that Mr.Van Lenten was found not guilty reported to the Police prior to the filing of this lawsuit or was NJMG trying to do an end run around the legal system to avoid an investigation into Mr. Van Lenten untimely death? Thank You Mr. Sasson.
DeleteThere was no theft of money and Mr. Van Lenten is not with us, as you know. This was a civil lawsuit and was dismissed. Guilt was not involved.
Delete