US District Court Denies Cenveo Request
02 October 2009 - 11:44PM
PR Newswire (US)
Preliminary Injunction Against Diversapack Denied NEW YORK, Oct. 2
/PRNewswire/ -- Diversapack LLC, a major supplier to the flexible
packaging industry, today announced that the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York has denied a
preliminary injunction sought by Cenveo Corporation (NYSE:CVO)
against Diversapack LLC and certain officers and minority
shareholders. Cenveo sought the injunction in an effort to deny
workers at its troubled envelope manufacturing plant in Altoona,
Pennsylvania the opportunity to seek better, more secure employment
at Diversapack's new manufacturing facility in Tyrone,
Pennsylvania. In the Court's decision, Judge Shira Scheindlin found
that Cenveo and Diversapack are not competitors and that Cenveo had
not proved that it was likely to succeed on the merits of its
lawsuit. In her opinion, Judge Scheindlin said, "An injunction
would impose an undue hardship upon current Cenveo employees." She
said further, "Cenveo also provides no support for its claim that
the reduction in productivity is a direct result of the loss of
these fourteen employees as opposed to the loss of the more than
one hundred employees Cenveo has laid off at the same plant or the
more than one thousand employees Cenveo has laid off nationwide."
Woodrow A. Hall, Chairman and President of Diversapack said, "We
are delighted by today's Court ruling, which supports our belief
that Cenveo's claims are baseless." Cenveo's action sought to limit
hiring in Diversapack's plant in Blair County Pennsylvania, which
was recently lauded by Commonwealth Governor Ed Rendell for its
"great growth potential." Mr. Hall said, "We are especially pleased
to bring new jobs and opportunities to workers in the flexible
packaging industry. We know that fair treatment of employees is the
only way to realize long-term success. "We were outraged that at a
time when it was slashing jobs and threatening to close the plant,
Cenveo, which is not even a competitor of ours, sought to prevent
its employees from seeking better jobs elsewhere, while retaining
the right to fire them at any time. We even understand that Cenveo
went so far as to urge Governor Rendell not to embrace the stimulus
package designed to create over a hundred manufacturing jobs at
Diversapack's new plant in Western Pennsylvania. "This denial of a
preliminary injunction is a resounding strike against the coercive
tactics employed by Cenveo. Bullying workers is no way to build a
business." A number of former Cenveo employees submitted
declarations for the hearing attesting to Cenveo's disrespectful
practices at the Altoona plant, including: -- An audio-visual
presentation shown by Human Resources to the entire workforce that
showed a hollowed-out factory with broken windows - workers were
told that if they did not maintain sufficient production, within
six months that would be their plant. -- The firing of an entire
department at the plant accomplished by calling out the names of
everyone in that department over the public address system so the
entire plant could hear. The employees were unceremoniously
dismissed, one by one. -- Bringing in temps and unskilled
short-term low wage workers, without benefits, to replace full-time
employees - previously fired employees were told that if they
wanted to come back to the company they would have to become temps.
-- The introduction of "dark days" where employees were told not to
come to work - and thus not paid - due to poor plant management of
work flow. "We have all experienced the economic downturn,"
continued Mr. Hall. "What we know is that the best way to a return
to prosperity is proper treatment of employees." About Diversapack
LLC Diversapack LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, provides
film and packaging products and solutions for Fortune 500 companies
in the food and beverages, health and beauty, consumer products,
and industrial and military markets through its nine manufacturing
locations in the United States. The company is the only Major
Minority Supplier to the flexible packaging industry. Diversapack
recently opened a manufacturing facility in Blair County
Pennsylvania, which will create 150 jobs in the next three years,
and has been lauded by Governor Ed Rendell for job creation and
capital investment in the commonwealth and in the county during
difficult times. Among the ownership group of Diversapack is a
former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Atlanta Mayor,
Andrew Young. DATASOURCE: Diversapack LLC CONTACT: Rhonda Barnat,
or Allyson Morris, both of Abernathy MacGregor Group, for
Diversapack LLC, +1-212-371-5999
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