Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070128
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bill Boland, a Richmond lawyer representing Reber, said the litigation was settled late Monday. He declined to discuss details, saying the settlement contained a confidentiality clause.
"It is fair to say that Dan is going to work in the direct-mail business," the lawyer said.
Reber, along with Jimmy Thomas, started DMC in 1989. That pair sold the company in 1992 to Chuck Keith and Roger Ott, former marketing executives with The Washington Times. Reber remained with DMC, which had grown into Bedford County's second-largest employer, until this past January, when Keith and Ott dismissed him as CEO.
Reber filed two lawsuits in March: One alleged that DMC fired him in breach of an employment contract; another asked the Bedford County Circuit Court to dissolve the leasing company that owns the shopping center where DMC is located.
Ott and Keith fired back with a federal lawsuit accusing Reber and Thomas of racketeering and securities fraud that had damaged DMC's profitability.
Legal costs from the lawsuits appeared to put a financial strain on DMC, which has been suffering cash-flow shortages the last few months.
On Nov. 23, the company told its 200 workers not to return to work after the Thanksgiving holiday unless they were called and told to do so.
Boland said Tuesday that some of the workers had been called back, and that the settlement could mean a return to work for the remaining employees.
"I certainly hope so," he said.
Reber had signed an agreement not to compete with DMC after leaving the company, but this settlement apparently opens the door for him to return to the business.
Boland said the agreement doesn't give Reber any ownership interest in Forest-based DMC, but it seems clear that he will have at least an indirect tie to the company.
Ott declined to comment on the settlement Tuesday, saying that Boland - Reber's attorney - was acting as a spokesman for DMC.
Reber and Thomas are best known in Lynchburg as the saviors of Liberty University. In recent years, the two have bought up more than $30 million worth of the school's debt, saving it from foreclosure, and have been made members of its board of trustees.
DMC is one of only four facilities in the country that offer "one-stop" shopping for fund-raisers and companies that use mass mailings. The company can make envelopes, print and personalize fund-raising and subscription letters, and stuff all the pieces into an envelope.
The settlement is just another chapter in DMC's tumultuous history. The company has gone from profits of $2.6 million two years ago to a loss of $300,000 last year.
Keith says DMC's cash-flow difficulties are a result of much of the company's money being tied up in paying off a $2 million loan used to buy equipment. Creditors seeking more than $200,000 in unpaid bills have filed judgments against DMC.
Boland said it will take at least a month for Reber and DMC to complete terms of the settlement and dismiss the lawsuits.
by CNB