Court Upholds Damages in Bay Guardian / SF Weekly Case
august 12, 2010 01:55 pm
California's First District Court of Appeal
has upheld a 2008 jury verdict which awarded the
San Francisco Bay Guardian $16 million in damages from
SF Weekly. After accruing two years' worth of interest, the award is now worth over $21 million.
In the initial trial, a San Francisco jury determined that
SF Weekly violated state law by selling ads below cost in an attempt to put the
Bay Guardian out of business.
SF Weekly has been appealing the ruling, but yesterday a three-judge panel
decided to uphold the damages.
Writing on the
Bay Guardian's blog, editor Tim Redmond
called the ruling "a dramatic victory for small independent businesses in California."
Update: Eli Sanders at
The Stranger is reporting that the two parties may be discussing a settlement.
See also: Earlier this year, Sanders
wrote an in-depth feature story about the case.