EX-COHR MANAGER DENIES CRITICISM.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer Medical equipment specialist Cohr Inc. on Tuesday accused a former executive who now runs a competing firm of being behind a series of anonymous, defamatory def·a·ma·tion n. The act of defaming; calumny. de·fam  a·to ry adj. comments made about the company on an Internet message board. In a written statement, the company said former Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. Sandy Morford was linked to a series of postings on a board dedicated to the Chatsworth firm and operated by Yahoo!, an Internet portal. The messages falsely identified their author as a current executive at Cohr, said spokeswoman Amy Metz. Morford said Tuesday that he was innocent of the activities, though he acknowledged messages were posted that claimed to be from his online account. ``Apparently somebody out there has absconded with my e-mail address See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address ,'' Morford said, adding that the address is printed on his business card. In several of the postings in question, the anonymous writer describes Cohr's stock as worthless and levels personal attacks against current Cohr employees. The messages, posted in an investment portion of the Yahoo! site, also discourage readers from investing in Cohr. In its statement Tuesday, Cohr said that based on information supplied by Yahoo!, the messages began the day Morford opened his online account in August and continued for about a month. Morford was fired in June after 19 years with the company when Cohr's board of directors brought on new management following an audit that found sales and earnings had been improperly im·prop·er adj. 1. Not suited to circumstances or needs; unsuitable: improper shoes for a hike; improper medical treatment. 2. inflated for several quarters. The firm's share price plummeted at the time, falling from roughly $12 a share to under $5, prompting several investor class-action lawsuits. Morford now is president of San Dimas-based Genesis Technology Partners, which competes with Cohr for hospital equipment maintenance contracts. ``But I don't need to disparage dis·par·age tr.v. dis·par·aged, dis·par·ag·ing, dis·par·ag·es 1. To speak of in a slighting or disrespectful way; belittle. See Synonyms at decry. 2. To reduce in esteem or rank. or remark badly about Cohr'' to successfully compete, he said. Cohr Chief Executive Ray List said his company is weighing its legal options. Analysts say any defamation defamation In law, issuance of false statements about a person that injure his reputation or that deter others from associating with him. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Libel is defamation in print, pictures, or any other visual symbols. lawsuit lawsuit: see procedure; tort. would rely on Cohr being able to prove that Morford authored the postings and that he intended to inflict harm on the company. ``The term for defaming someone on the Internet is flaming flaming - flame . . . and there's no reason (postings) can't form the basis for a lawsuit,'' said Matthew Spitzer, director of the University of Southern California's Center for Communications Law and Policy. Online messages are ``treated pretty much like any other communications medium.'' Spitzer also said that if the author intended to influence Cohr's share price through false information, the person likely would be in violation of federal securities fraud as well. Cohr shares closed Tuesday at $3.0625, down 6.25 cents. |
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