Announcing the Vitriolic Defense

Earlier this week Cohen & Malad, LLP issued a press release announcing the filing of a securities fraud class action complaint against RelationServe Media, Inc. n/k/a SendTec, Inc., in the in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Today, in response, Sendtec, Inc., a direct marketing services company based in St. Petersburg, Florida, decided to introduce a new type of press release, the vitriolic defense.

In their release, Sendtec starts with a familiar tune:

This action is frivolous and without merit.

Most companies then assert their intention to vigorously defend themselves, but Sendtec went much further:

Accordingly, we intend to seek dismissal of this case and sanctions for a false filing in which federal jurisdiction as a class action has been improperly sought.

There is some history between these litigants, so the tone of the company's release is not coming from left field.

As reported in a Sendtec 10-Q earlier this year, the named plaintiff in the federal litigation, Richard F. Thompson, (and related individuals and entities) commenced an action in the Hamilton County Circuit Court, against Anthony D. Altavilla, Summit Financial Partners, LLC, Barron Partners, LP, US MedSys Corp. and RelationServe Media, Inc.

The plaintiffs in the earlier state complaint against Sendtec (f/k/a RelationServe Media, Inc.) sought rescission of the 110,000 shares of common stock they purchased in July 2005, alleging that the shares were not properly registered as required under Indiana Law.

Of course, Sendtec had something to say about the earlier litigation:

The Company believes this action is without merit, and intends to vigorously defend itself with respect to this matter.

Daily Trivia: Sendtec has won a host of awards for the advertising work the firm has done over the years. I was surprised to learn that the Telly Award the firm won for a Roy Rogers Restaurants campaign had nothing to do with Kojak. In fact the Telly's "honor outstanding local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions."