The Rhode Island Superior Court has found two former executives for watchband
distributor Speidel LLC “in civil contempt for attempting to replace and in effect
cancel current Speidel contracts and purchase orders during the Company’s 2009
receivership proceedings,” according to the court’s published decision.

The judgment stems from a motion brought by Cerce Capital LLC, which purchased
Speidel LLC in 2009. Cerce’s motion alleged that Jeffrey Massotti, Speidel’s
former president, and Peter Cipolla, Speidel’s former vice president of
marketing, violated the court’s orders by approaching Speidel customers,
interfering with Speidel contracts, and taking proprietary information in order
to redirect Speidel business to Timex, with which Speidel had an exclusive
licensing agreement.

Cerce said in a statement that it plans to pursue a claim for civil penalties
against Massotti and Cipolla.

JCK