Injunction sought to prevent any sales

Allan Block, chairman of Block Communications Inc., the parent company of The Blade and Buckeye Broadband, among other companies, on Wednesday filed a motion in Lucas County Common Pleas Court seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent his brother, John Robinson Block, and other members of the family from selling the businesses.

“Allan Block is trying to stop self-interested family members from pursuing a fire sale of Block Communications that could lead to hundreds of job losses in the local Toledo and Pittsburgh communities, as well as the potential shutdown of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade. It is unfortunate that certain Block family members would choose to further enrich themselves at the expense of local jobs and the communities that depend on local news coverage,” a spokesman for Allan Block said in a statement.

The motion describes Allan Block, the plaintiff, as “the senior leader of BCI” and claims “John Block styles himself as BCI’s ‘sovereign,’ and has long desired to take control of BCI. To that end, John Block has repeatedly tried — and failed — to replace Plaintiff as BCI’s CEO.”

It continues: “Now, in a last-ditch effort to assert his so-called ‘sovereignty,’ John Block has conspired with the rest of the Director Defendants to exclude Plaintiff from the most major decision to ever face BCI in its over 100 years of existence: a full sale of all its assets.”

When reached Wednesday afternoon, John Robinson Block, The Blade’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, said, “I have always been committed to, and remain committed to The Blade and the [Pittsburgh] Post Gazette, and the company that my grandfather started.”

He declined further comment on the lawsuit, but indicated he put his “heart and soul” into the business and “I am committed to it all.”

Also listed as defendants are Block Communications, Inc., William Block, Jr. exempt and nonexempt trusts, Donald G. Block exempt and nonexempt trusts, Karen D. Johnese exempt and nonexempt trusts, Barbara L. Block exempt and nonexempt trusts, Block Family trust No. 2, Karen Johnese, Diana Block, Ron Davenport, Nancy Reid, and Emily Escalante.

According to the request for an injunction, John Robinson Block and the other defendants “caused BCI to form a strategic transaction committee to pursue a merger or acquisition of the company.”

The committee “conspicuously comprises John Block and directors from every family faction except for Plaintiff and his faction,” according to the motion. “This maneuver not only reveals the bad faith behind John Block’s self-interested plan to oust Plaintiff through a sale of the Company, but also rests on flagrant breaches of Plaintiff’s contractual rights as CEO and co-equal owner of BCI.”

In the request for a preliminary injunction, Allan Block’s attorneys argue, “this case affects interests far beyond those personally affecting Plaintiff. The Director Defendants have launched themselves on a course to sell the Company in short order” and “if that ill-advised outcome is achieved, it is all but certain that the Company will cease to exist in its current form and numerous employee jobs will be sacrificed as collateral damage” with most of those being lost in Ohio.

The case has been assigned to Judge Michael Goulding.

Paul Block, Allan and John Robinson Block’s grandfather, founded Paul Block, Inc. as an advertising firm in New York City in 1901. It would later evolve into the present day BCI. The elder Block acquired The Blade in 1926 and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1927. In the decades to follow, BCI would diversify its media holdings adding and selling various newspapers and broadcast stations as it grew.

Buckeye Cablevision, Inc. was formed in 1965 and the related entities of Metro Fiber & Cable Construction and Buckeye Telesystem, Inc. started in 1994 and 1997, respectively. The company acquired Erie County Cablevision in 1981.

Between 1972 and 2001, BCI added to its media holdings by acquiring a number of broadcast television stations, including WLIO in Lima, Ohio, WDRB in Louisville, and WAND in Decatur, Ill.

Contact Yarko Kuk at ykuk@theblade.com.