Friday, June 01, 2007

I'm slow at passing out papers, so I'll sue

Every newspaper gets hit with nuisance lawsuits. The more successful the newspaper, the more suits. Metro New York claims its competitor, amNew York, isn't paying the minimum wage. At least not to distributors who are slow. Plaintiff James Allen, 52, of Brooklyn, claims he wasn't able to pass out his stack of amNewYorks in the time for which he was paid, and feels a class action lawsuit is warranted. Surprisingly (cough, cough), plaintiff Allen is going to work for Metro New York. Wonder how much Metro is paying Allen? Wonder if Metro reporter Amy Zimmer understands that a lawsuit doesn't become a "class action" until it is certified as such by a court? At this point, it's just one disgruntled guy suing his former employer. But, hey, it's a headline that demonizes a competitor! In a perfect world, newspapers wouldn't pull stunts like this on each other.