Some might assume Tire Works lawsuits are attempt to chill newscasts

The recent KTNV-TV 13 Action News investigative stories on questionable business practices at Tire Works Total Car Care seemed like pretty traditional stuff.

If you watch TV news, you know the setup: Hidden camera, state regulators on the hunt for allegedly unscrupulous operators, an expert rendering his considered opinion that something is rotten in Denmark. Or in this case, at Tire Works. Veteran TV 13 investigative reporter Darcy Spears has won an armload of awards with such stories.

Here's what happens if events follow the traditional path: The stories draw viewers; the regulating body looks like it's on its toes; the accused business gets a wrist slap, pays a fine, and promises to clean up its act. The crowd moves on.

Not this time.

This time, Tire Works owners Roshie and Jeff Weightman have hired the Gordon Silver Law Firm and late Monday filed two defamation suits in connection with the news broadcasts.

The first claim is against Robin Roques, the master mechanic used in the Consumer Affairs sting. Roques is the director of Automotive Technology at the College of Southern Nevada. After Consumer Affairs investigators established questions of deceptive trade practices and unnecessary services and repairs, the broadcast quotes Roques saying, "It's fraud, OK. They're selling stuff that is unneeded services and they're just taking money from the public and giving the auto repair industry a bad name."

Roques seems like a pretty credible source, but the lawsuit alleges that statement constitutes defamation.

In another twist that's sure to draw the attention of media attorneys near and far, a second defamation suit names the author of a post on the KTNV Web site as a defendant. For now, he is known only as "Jacob." According to the lawsuit, Jacob accused the Weightmans of drug abuse and theft.

Although the station removed the post following a demand letter from plaintiffs attorneys Dominic Gentile and Jeffrey Hulet, now the push is on to find out identifying details about "Jacob," who appears to be a former Tire Works employee.

You'll notice that neither reporter Spears nor her television station is as yet named in either lawsuit. Given that, some might assume these suits are an attempt to chill any future broadcasts about Tire Works.

That theory is complicated by a letter from a business associate, Abdus Asif, owner of franchise developer MBA Associates. The letter thanks the Weightmans for their "valued business relationship" but cites Channel 13's Web posting as a reason for discontinuing their business dealings -- potentially setting up an actual damage claim by the Weightmans.

The trouble with all this lawyering is, it doesn't focus on the weighty and mightily embarrassing Consumer Affairs complaint against three Tire Works locations owned by the Weightmans' Morpheus Investment Inc.

"The targeted locations were chosen because between March 7, 2006, and August 21, 2008, the NCAD received and investigated multiple complaints alleging deceptive trade practices at all three locations," the complaint alleges.

A review of the stories tells me the cameras were likely law-enforcement issue, not the average TV station lipstick camera. A reliable source confirms this, which places the news outlet in the wake of the state investigation. In other words, the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division was in the "action," TV 13 just reported the "news."

Traditionally, Consumer Affairs Division complaints are settled by negotiation, and the defendants move on with their business. This time, the state's 56-page complaint requests, in part, that a permanent injunction be issued "suspending its privilege to conduct automobile repair business within this state."

In response, Tire Works' attorneys argue that some of the complaints have already been adjudicated in small-claims court in favor of the company and were a tiny percentage of the more than 500,000 repairs performed. The counterclaim raises the issue of whether the state is guilty of piling on.

If the plaintiffs were hoping to send a chill through the newsroom and stop any potentially embarrassing future broadcasts, the climate remains downright muggy at KTNV. The station is set to air a follow-up report by Spears tonight at 11 on Tire Works' ongoing problems with the state Labor Commission.

Unless the tough guys representing Tire Works can come up with something more compelling, the next sound you hear will be the air escaping from their over-inflated lawsuits.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith/.