By: Jennifer Saba The 50 auto dealers that filed a class-action suit against Newsday in Melville, N.Y., went to court Thursday to ask U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler to let them resume advertising in the newspaper.
As of July 30, Newsday stopped accepting ads from the dealers after the group sued the newspaper alleging unfair advertising practices. The auto dealers claim that Newsday unfairly raised ad rates and that the paper's conduct was "anti-competitive," according to the suit.
The attorney representing the dealers, Leonard Bellavia, said he went to court seeking a temporary restraining order, which, if granted, would allow the plaintiffs to advertise in the paper for seven to 10 days -- until a preliminary injunction could be issued. If the judge favored the plaintiffs, the preliminary injunction would allow them to advertise in the paper until the case was decided.
Judge Wexler ruled that he would not make any decisions on the temporary restraining order until the next appearance scheduled for Aug. 24.
"From my standpoint, I wasn't happy because I wanted to get immediate relief," Bellavia told E&P.
According to an article in Newsday, the paper's attorney invoked the First Amendment in its defense. "Newspapers clearly have no obligation to accept ads from anybody," said attorney Alan Unger in the story. He also argued that the paper didn't break any antitrust laws because it does not compete with auto dealerships.
"We are pleased that the court found that the plaintiffs are not entitled to an injunction that would have required Newsday to accept advertising from businesses that are suing us," Newsday spokesperson Stu Vincent said in a statement.
Bellavia said that since the case has been filed his clients have been "courted by dozens" of potential publishers, including the New York Post. He said the Post approached the dealers with the offer to publish a 58-page weekly pullout to be distributed on Long Island with competitive rates.
The New York Post has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Bellavia claims his clients collectively spent $1 million a month in Newsday. The newspaper claims that figure is overstated.
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