On second thought...Forty-eight hours ago, it seemed that there might be a dim chance of rescuing NOW Toronto and Georgia Straight from the scattered wreckage of Media Central. I sketched out the rough outline of a hypothetical rescue effort in a post on this board.
Since then, a few new pertinent facts ([url=https://ceo.ca/@nasdaq/mediacentral-corporation-receives-notice-of-intention]here[/url]and [url=https://ceo.ca/@nasdaq/mediacentral-corporation-defends-in-civil-claim]here[/url]) have come to light... and blooey goes my optimistic roadmap.
There's reason to suspect Media Central is not done dropping surprise announcements at the rate of four every four days: "Oh, by the way, there are some other legal actions against us that we intended to mention, but we don't like disturbing you."
The two nuggets that were dropped quietly on a Sunday evening really set the tone.
1. On March 9, MC said they were "trying to reach an agreement" to settle a debt of approx. $1,026,000. Just 96 hours later, they said action had been initiated March 9 against MC under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act for a claim of $1,097,000. That's the thing about trying to stall creditors. They seldom buy your excuses, they never give up, and the amount you owe keeps growing: in this case, at the seeming cost of around $16k a day. Based on this new information, Mr. Wei Lin, representative of the stiffed debenture holders, is probably pretty angry by now, and disinclined toward philosophical conversation with MC.
2. We've also learned that an ex-employee of Georgia Straight, Laura Moore, brought a civil claim against MC that dates back to July 2020. She's seeking $250k. While no facts have been provided, this amount would be in line with precedents where a senior employee if terminated or separated unwillingly is entitled to the equivalent of one month's salary and benefits for each year of employment. Ms. Moore was employed by Georgia Straight for more than 20 years. Again, the particulars of this action are unknown, but if this matter is before a B.C. labour tribunal, the rulings go for the employee nearly 100% of the time. A comment was offered on this board that MC hasn't paid NOW Toronto employees since the start of this year. Therefore, it seems much more apparent that potential employee claims against the company and its directors will be far more expensive than I envisioned in my previous post. This won't go away with an apology, restitution of back pay, and some corporate ownership and board representation, as I first imagined. It's too late, and too f*ed up for that. I don't think the three Media Central directors fully grasp that they will be personally on the hook for these employee claims, and that there's nowhere to hide from them. Certainly, the newest director, Carolyn Wall of New York City, will treat this as very unwelcome news.
Meanwhile, over at
ceo.ca/flyy, the boys are in a tizzy. Here's one denizen who at long last saw the light at midnight:
@Garbage Seems like the stockhouse boys were onto something 0
@Garbage Seems like the stockhouse boys were onto something 0