Cingular Tries to Censor Employee Comments

The US network, Cingular has reported to have filed a lawsuit to prevent testimony of Laren Whiddon, a senior Cingular officer in the Chicago area, from being read by members of the public. Whiddon made comments in a lawsuit by the Cingular dealership Kempner Mobile, that Kempner has later posted on its own web site and claims harmed Cingular's case in the lawsuit.

In 2002, Kempner Mobile, formerly a dealer of Cingular, sued Cingular for injunctive relief and breach of contract. The hearing was held on January 28 and 29, 2003, and among the significant decisions by the Federal District Court it ruled that Cingular's contractual restrictions on Kempner, preventing him from selling competing products or competing with Cingular, are unenforceable.

Kempner published a decision as well as the other relevant information on a Web site. Kempner says that the purpose in establishing the Web site was, in part, to try to obtain information from other sources in its continuing battle against Cingular. Kempner's multi-million dollar lawsuit is scheduled to continue before the Federal Court in June, 2003.

Also included on the Web site were portions of the deposition of Laren Whiddon, the Regional Vice-President of Cingular, who admitted certain things about Cingular's policy which were extremely helpful in Kempner's victory over Cingular."

Posted to the site on 14th April 2003