VW Bodyguards Allegedly Man-handle GM Reps

06/24/96

Events surrounding GM's industrial espionage lawsuit against VW and the German carmaker's defamation counter-suit against the American giant are really heating up. Documents that GM representatives filed in the U.S. District court in Detroit allege that the conflict has turned physical.

The documents say that process servers who were trying to present GM's lawsuit to Volkswagen executives were roughed up by German bodyguards. GM's representative Don Price said that two guards blocked his access to VW's Jens Neumann when Price tried to approach the VW exec at an elevator. The court documents allege that one of the guards grabbed him by the throat and asked him "Who are you and where are you from?" in a "thick German accent."

In a separate incident process server Richard Bourne says he approached Jose Ignacio Lopez when Lopez was talking on the phone and handed him the lawsuit. The court documents say that when Lopez realized what the papers were, he handed them to his aide, who tried to give them back to Bourne by hitting him with the folder that contained the papers and repeating "You were not here today" and "This thing did not happen."

Bourne has also entered documents into the court that allege that camera-toting VW security guards surrounded him and another process server at a hotel restaurant. Bourne called in the Royal Canadian Mounties. The documents say that the VW security guards dispersed when the police showed up.

According to law, GM must personally present their industrial lawsuit to the defendants. When the lawsuit was filed on March 8, VW refused to voluntarily accept the service of the suit. Last week, however, after the incidents in Canada, VW agreed to be served with the papers. The company would not comment on the incidents in Canada.

The industrial espionage suit charges that VW lured Jose Ignacio Lopez away from working for GM with a salary offer of $1.6 million, and that Lopez took a lot of secret documents with him when he defected from GM, handing the American carmaker's secrets about products and suppliers over to VW. VW has maintained its innocence and has counter-sued GM for defamation.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel