A judge's 11th-hour order to freeze the scheduled sale of The Boston Globe to Red Sox owner John Henry — amid a class-action lawsuit brought by former newspaper carriers at sister paper Worcester Telegram & Gazette — left the Times with even more headaches yesterday as it tries to unload the beleaguered broadsheet.
"In all the years I've followed the newspaper industry, I've never heard of this happening," said Edward Atorino of The Benchmark Co. "It sounds to me like the Times just wants to get rid of the Globe."
The Times, which paid $1.1 billion for the Globe in 1993, agreed to sell the paper in August to John Henry for $70 million. But it also agreed to take over employee pension liabilities and could now be on the hook for up to $60 million, the high end of what the Worcester carriers are seeking, according to court documents.
The Herald first reported on Saturday that the sale would be delayed.
Worcester Superior Court Judge Shannon Frison is expected to rule today on whether the sale can proceed after she ordered a temporary stop on Friday. Attorneys for the T&G filed an emergency motion to modify the injunction on Monday, which Frison is considering.
It all stems from a class-action suit filed by four former carriers at the T&G who allege they were misclassified as independent contractors instead of regular employees.
Attorney James Galliher said the approximately 1,500 carriers may be owed as much as $60 million, mostly for mileage and supplies reimbursements as well as other benefits between January 2006 and April 2011, when their positions were outsourced.
Meanwhile, the Times sought to downplay any suggestions that the judge's order could derail the sale.
"We continue to move toward a close," said Times spokeswoman Abbe Serphos.
Henry and the Globe declined to comment.
Analysts have said much of the value in the Globe deal is in the real estate of the paper's Morrissey Boulevard headquarters.
However, contrary to a published report yesterday claiming the Department of Environmental Protection had banned any development on contaminated sections of the Globe property, Henry could in fact redevelop the site, but would first need to take certain additional environmental steps, said DEP spokesman Ed Coletta.
Ariel Rodriguez contributed to this report.
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