In what must be one of the dumbest lawsuits of the year, a McClatchy subscriber has filed a class action lawsuit over McClatchy's plans to lay off 70 employees at the News & Observer. Courthouse News Service:
A subscriber filed a class action against the News & Observer newspaper, claiming its plan to lay off 70 workers will deliver an inferior product to customers who subscribed before the layoffs began on June 17 - part of 1,400 layoffs in the McClatchy newspaper chain.
Keith Hempstead, an attorney and a former newspaper reporter, filed the pro se claim Wake County Superior Court. He says McClatchy's buyouts and layoffs will eliminate daily editions for some areas, including as the Durham edition to which he subscribes.
The News & Observer announced on June 16 that the paper will have fewer sections and the ones that remain will be thinner. Hempstead says he would not have renewed his subscription in late May if he knew the layoffs were coming.
He claims the News & Observer and McClatchy breached contract. He demands an injunction and damages.
If he doesn't like the product, why can't this pinhead just pick up the phone, call the newspaper and cancel his subscription?
