Public Reputation

Grand Rapids, MI: (Dec-27-07) Grand Traverse Township Treasurer William Boltres brought a lawsuit against Meijer Inc., alleging that the company damaged his public reputation, health, and peace of mind. The suit claimed that Meijer paid a public relations firm, Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc., at least $30,000 in an effort to remove the Board of Trustees for Grand Traverse County's Acme Township. It said that Seyferth crafted recall language, devised election strategies, wrote campaign literature, and used local residents as figureheads, according to the records. The contributions weren't reported to the state. A co-chairman of Meijer Inc. said he learned that the retailer had funded a failed election recall in February that targeted local officials who opposed a planned Meijer store near Traverse City. Sources stated that a lack of internal controls led to the company's involvement in the recall campaign without the knowledge of its top executives.

City officials stated that state law prohibits corporations from contributing to political campaigns. In a recent development, the company announced that it had reached a settlement in the case, after a mediation panel in November 2007 unanimously recommended that the Grand Rapids-based retailer pay $3 million to Boltres. [MLIVE: PUBLIC REPUTATION]

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Published on Jan-1-08