Newsday and Car Dealers Settle Ad Case

BAY SHORE, N.Y. -- More than 40 regional car dealers who in 2004 sued Newsday on fraud and antitrust charges tied to the newspaper's circulation improprieties settled the class-action case this week, a lawyer for the dealers said Wednesday, the paper reported.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, the paper reported.

Leonard Bellavia, a Bay Shore, N.Y., attorney who filed the case on behalf of the dealers, said settlement talks accelerated in recent weeks. He said he believes the movement was prompted by his firm's offer of experts to help a federal judge determine the financial impact of the Newsday circulation fraud in criminal cases against former executives, the paper reported.

Newsday spokeswoman Deidra Parrish Williams confirmed the settlement. "We are pleased to have reached an amicable agreement so we can return our full focus to helping our advertisers grow their businesses," she said in a prepared statement, according to the paper.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 2/28/08