After more than tow years of legal wrangling, 27 current and former Ziebart franchisees won $1.5 million in damages for breach of contract and product liability from car-care specialist Ziebart International Corporation. The franchisees were also awarded “declaratory relief,” which will guide both parties’ future actions. That was in November

Ziebart International Corp. lost its COO this month and suffered another setback in its legal battle with franchisees. John Lynch, who also was treasurer of the Troy-based rust-proofing and auto accessory company, resigned last week to become chairman and CEO of Automotive Franchise Systems L.L.C. in Detroit. Lynch did not

For something that Romeo Community Schools doesn’t concede to be a legitimate health concern, the legal stakes keep escalating. Wonder Makers Environmental Inc., a Kalamazoo-based air quality and environmental testing firm that inspected Washington Elementary School, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking damages above $115,000 from the Romeo district and several

Three lawsuits filed by current and former Michigan art gallery owners against Media Arts Inc. accuse the company of saturating the market the work of Thomas Kinkade. The suits, filed in Wayne Country Circuit Court, allege a glut of Kinkade works left galleries with debt and overstock, The Detroit News

A third lawsuit has been filed in Romeo Community Schools’ continuing mold controversy. Wonder Makers Environmental Inc., the company that was first to find potentially dangerous black mold in Washington Elementary School, is asking for damages for what it says were defamatory remarks made by school officials and others about

Detroit, MI — News/Talk 760 WJR and Michigan State University will again join forces to present CHAMPIONS FOR THE KIDS, a special golf event to benefit the non-profit organization “Yatooma’s Foundation For The Kids. ” Registration has already begun so don’t miss your chance to join MSU Coaches and WJR

Artist Thomas Kinkade’s lawyer said Tuesday that he plans to fight an arbitration panel’s ruling in favor of the former owners of a Charlottesville gallery. California attorney Dana Levitt said Jeffrey Spinello and Karen Hazlewood, who sold Kinkade’s works in a Downtown Mall gallery from 1999 to 2003, were wrongly

Franchising has had its share of fraud and market saturation lawsuits in years past, but who would think that Christian artist Thomas Kinkade would be accused of such shenanigans. Although his paintings are symbolic of the simpler life, the question of whether he is encompassing his art in the framework

Snowballing legal troubles for the Thomas Kinkade Company now include a pair of class action lawsuits and a rumored FBI investigation. While the feds are keeping mum on their alleged sleuthing – neither confirming of denying a report in The Los Angeles Times this week – an attorney for 23

Painting cute country cottages so kitschy they make art critics cringe doesn’t usually bring you a knock on the door from the FBI. But the feds are investigating America’s best-selling artist, wholesome Christian painter Thomas Kinkade, whose mass-produced work is sold in stores in malls across the nation. The FBI

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The former owners of Charlottesville’s Thomas Kinkade art gallery have won $860,000 from Kinkade’s company, after successfully arguing that the Christian-themed firm defrauded its dealers. Palmyra resident Jeff Spinello and his former wife, Karen Hazlewood, are believed to be the first to win against the Kinkade company in

Thomas Kinkade paintings are about warmth and security: garden gazebos, elegant old cities at dusk, thatched cottages surrounded by flowers. But a growing number of Kinkade licensees aren’t feeling either secure or warm. They’re feeling ripped off – and a lot poorer. Alleging fraud, they’ve filed at least seven lawsuits,

Palmyra – The former owners of Charlottesville’s Thomas Kinkade art gallery have won $860,000 from the “Painter of Light’s” company, having successfully argued that the Christian-themed firm committed fraud against its dealers. Palmyra resident Jeff Spinello and his ex-wife, Karen Hazlewood, are the first to defeat Kinkade’s company in arbitration.

BIRMINGHAM — Media Arts Inc., the brainchild of self-styled “Painter of Light” Thomas Kinkade, is accused of saturating the market with his artworks — at the expense of dealers who banked on its scarcity. A trio of lawsuits filed by current and former gallery owners say the overload left their

Arbitrators awarded $860,000 to two former Charlottesville Thomas Kinkade gallery owners who accused the artist and his company of hiding business risks and using Christian themes to win their trust. Ruling 2-1 on February 23, the arbitration panel found that Kinkade’s Media Arts Group and one of its executives, Richard

An arbitration panel Thursday awarded $860,000 to two former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners who accused the self-proclaimed “Painter of Light” and his company, Media Arts Group Inc., of fraudulently inducing them to invest in the business – and them ruining them financially. While not singling out Kinkade in its

Thomas Kinkade, the best-selling U.S. artist, may soon face two class-action suits, a civil racketeering case and a related FBI investigation, a report says. The New York Daily News reported that since a California judge awarded two art dealers $860,000 earlier this year after they alleged the famous Christian artist

A California court panel has put a stain on the image of the so-called “painter of light.” The art business is watching closely at the case being handled by a Birmingham law firm. A Virginia couple had been fans and collectors of Thomas Kinkade, whose glowing images of seascapes and