Flooring America Files Suit Against Carpet One
The complaint charges that since February 1999, Carpet Co-Op of America, which does business as Carpet One; floor covering distributor Misco-Shawnee; and James Gould, owner of Misco-Shawnee and holder of the Color Tile brand name, have been using aliases to publish false and disparaging messages to the Internet message board hosted by Yahoo.
The complaint alleges the defendants published misleading information about the company, posted disparaging statements, and made defamatory comments about the company and some of its executive officers. The complaint also alleged that the defendants misappropriated confidential information from Flooring America and disclosed it on the message board for the purpose of damaging the company's relationships with its franchisees, employees, and investors.
Further allegations claim Carpet One posted they were franchisees and employees of Flooring America to add credibility to the messages. The suit also charges that Floor One solicited franchisees to break their agreements with Flooring America.
Flooring America said it is bringing the suit for claims of trade libel, intentional interference with contractual and business relations, aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, and violations of the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Trade Secrets Act.
Edited by Anndrea Vorobej