The New York Times is reporting that Marvel head (and one of Disney’s largest shareholders), Ike Perlmutter, is being accused of launching a hate-mail campaign against his neighbor, Harold Peerenboom. One of the letters in question reads, “Today I write you to warn you about Harold Peerenboom of 8 Sloans Curve Road who is a sexual predator.”
Peerenboom has never been accused of such a crime and has taken Perlmutter to court to prove it was him who sent the e-mails. As a result, this week a state judge in New York ordered that Marvel must search their servers for any correspondence referencing Peerenboom. A subsequent hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 9th to discuss the findings.
A Marvel spokesperson told the Times they had no comment on the matter since it was a personal to Perlmutter.
From the Times:
Mr. Perlmutter’s lawyer has denied he had anything to do with the letters and suggested that Mr. Peerenboom, a Toronto businessman who founded an executive search firm, is a serial litigator.
Mr. Peerenboom’s team points out that says that a judge has said that there is enough evidence for the case to proceed every time Perlmutter tries to have the case dismissed.
This ordeal began when Peerenboom, who moved into the community in 2007, learned that the community’s tennis pro, Karen Donnelly, worked without a contract and had not bid for the work, which he claimed amounted to bid-rigging under Florida law. He made his objection to the arrangement known to the homeowners’ organization. But Donnelly was a favorite of Ike and he nudged the board to overrule Mr. Peerenboom and to rework the agreement with Ms. Donnelly so she didn’t have to submit a competitive bid.
Perlmutter than funded Donnelly’s lawsuit against Peerenboom and others contending that she had been slandered. That is when the letter writing campaign began.
On Wednesday, a judge will address the question of whether Marvel must search its servers for evidence of Mr. Perlmutter’s connection to the letters.
Marvel produced did produce some emails last week but others are being held back under the claim of attorney-client privilege.