Woman/Minority-Owned Small Business Launches 13 Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Comcast Corporation
African-American small business woman in fight to save her company against alleged intimidation tactics that she says included a forced break-in to a company facility - caught on tape.
Baltimore, Maryland (PRWEB) April 13, 2007 -- Prior to founding Wirespan Communications, Celeste Wooten was an accomplished executive for Verizon Communications, Inc earning a six-figure salary. With extensive experience in the telecommunications business and a reputation for excellence, Wooten launched Wirespan in 2002. In a few short years, Wirespan was praised in the media and became one of the top 40 minority businesses in the Baltimore region. Now, nearly five years later, Celeste Wooten is looking at the ruins of a dream.
The lawsuit, (Wirespan v. Comcast Corporation,) is filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, Case #: 24-C-06-010972.
In this lawsuit, Wirespan alleges that Comcast, which once comprised nearly 80 percent of Wooten's business and dictated much of its growth is the reason that Wirespan may soon cease to exist. Wirespan's complaint is that the company was repeatedly held to a different standard by Comcast than other companies and was forced to comply with rules that other vendors were not. Additionally, Wirespan allegedly did not receive the same benefits as other non-minority vendors and allegedly endured countless episodes of intimidation and dishonesty from Comcast. Wirespan also alleges that a team of Comcast Managers broke into the locked backdoor of the Wirespan facility (which is captured on the security camera) after Wirespan terminated their business relationship with Comcast.
To view the security tape: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gJ9yisBUy08
As a result of the business turmoil, Wirespan filed a 13 million dollar lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Maryland, Howard County alleging that Comcast Corporation reneged on its agreements.
What I find so disturbing, says Wooten, "is that you think doing excellent work is going to be enough but it's not…..after a while you begin to see it's a pattern because you start hearing stories about other women and minorities being bullied and these behaviors going unchecked so I have no choice at this point but to fight."
The complaint against Comcast alleges that Wirespan increased its staffing and equipment at the request of Comcast to provide an employee-based staff instead of the contractors that Comcast had been using. Wirespan incurred significant costs to do so and that Comcast failed to deliver the business it promised. Additionally, the complaint alleges that when Wirespan sought additional business from other companies to compensate for lost revenue, Comcast's executives threatened Ms. Wooten and the Wirespan team that they would pull their contract if they were to do so.
"Comcast has a long history of complaints from minority groups and small businesses for unfair business practices," says Wootten, "to include challenges to their licensure from minority business owners and websites dedicated to tracking bad behaviors such as www.comcastwatch.com."
About Wirespan Communications:
Founded in October 2001, Wirespan Communications, Inc, was created to take advantage of the increasing structured wiring installation needs for commercial and residential customers. Wirespan provides on-premise wired and wireless communication solutions for telecom and broadband providers and builders and construction companies. Wirespan also capitalizes on the unique opportunities that exist as a result of the rapidly increasing adoption of the wireless 802.11a & 802.11b (Wi-Fi) technology, the most popular standards for wireless networks. Wirespan's founding team represents a strong management nucleus with diverse backgrounds in business startup, technology, and telecommunications infrastructure and service.
Contact: Angela Calman, 212-729-8088, Celeste Wooten, 443-745-1453
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