A PULP FRICTION
‘Harassment!’ ‘Lies!’ B&N’s firing scandal!
The former chief executive of Barnes & Noble sued the bookseller on Tuesday, claiming that Chairman Len Riggio “fabricated” reasons to fire him — including trumped-up allegations of sex harassment — after a deal to sell the company fell through.
Demos Parneros, who was B&N’s fourth CEO in five years, alleges his firing last month came just weeks after an unnamed book retailer offered to buy Barnes & Noble before ultimately withdrawing its offer in June.
Barnes & Noble declined to comment on the alleged fizzled talks, which weren’t previously reported.
When it fired Paneros on July 3, less than two years after hiring him, B&N cited “violations of the company’s policies” that weren’t tied to “financial reporting, policies or practices or any potential fraud.”
The press release was worded “in a manner that [B&N] knew full well was false, but would be read as reporting that Parneros had engaged in serious sexual misconduct,” according to the federal suit filed in the Southern District of New York.
The suit likewise accuses Riggio of “inappropriate and unprofessional conduct” of his own, including allegedly calling employees names like “fat pig,” “head case” and “three-dollar bill.”
Riggio allegedly called Paneros’ predecessor as CEO, Ronald Boire, a slew of epithets including “SOB,” “creep,” “motherf—r,” “slime bag” and “bad guy,” according to the suit.
At the center of Parneros’ firing was an alleged May 2018 exchange between Parneros and an executive assistant, according to suit.
Riggio had alleged the executive assistant complained that Parneros described a luxurious hotel where he and his wife had stayed as a place where “you would put out” — a comment that made the assistant uneasy, according to the suit.
Parneros countered that he had described the hotel as “charming and romantic,” the suit says.
Parneros and the assistant later discussed the situation with the senior VP of communications present, and Riggio later allegedly said he considered it to be a “closed matter,” according to the complaint.
But the incident was brought up again during a July 2 lunch meeting when Parneros was told by Riggio that he was going to be fired for “violating the sexual harassment policy” and mistreating Barnes & Noble’s chief financial officer.
“You better not speak to the press about this,” Riggio allegedly told Parneros.
With scant details, news reports connected Parneros’ firing to the #MeToo movement, damaging Parneros’ reputation, according to the suit.
Headhunters told Parneros he was “unhirable” and his career was “essentially over,” the suit claims. KeyCorp forced Parneros to leave its board, causing “humiliation” and “a significant income loss,” Parneros alleged.
Barnes & Noble sharply countered Parneros’ allegations in a statement released late Tuesday, claiming the suit was “replete with lies and mischaracterizations.”
“The lawsuit filed by Demos Parneros is nothing but an attempt to extort money from the Company by a CEO who was terminated for sexual harassment, bullying behavior and other violations of company policies after being in the role for approximately one year,” Barnes & Noble reps said.
[Riggio] engineered [the] firing without cause and issued an announcement that falsely and irrevocably damaged the reputation [that took] thirty-five years to build. — Parneros’ allegation [The lawsuit] is nothing but an attempt to extort money from the Company by a CEO who was terminated for sexual harassment, bullying behavior and other violations. — B&N statement