Dec 24, 2003 By Jennifer Harr 4 min read

Commonwealth Marketing Group has referred a spam-related lawsuit filed against the Uniontown business to Washington authorities because they believe the man who filed the suit is trying to defraud the company. In a release issued Tuesday, Commonwealth Marketing President Robert E. Kane said his company flatly denies any allegations of wrongdoing alleged by Jim Gordon, a resident of the state of Washington. Gordon filed a lawsuit last week claiming that Commonwealth Marketing sent him unsolicited e-mails in violation of Washington’s anti-spam law. He is seeking $500 for each of the alleged 1,266 unsolicited e-mails he claims to have received.

But Kane said that Gordon invited the e-mails when he visited the company’s Web site.

“There are several people, like Gordon, who have made a livelihood out of soliciting messages, and claiming to receive messages, that they then contend violate their state’s laws. Unlike the types of enterprises and individuals that these laws are designed to curtail, Commonwealth Marketing Group supports and welcomes anti-spam laws and other laws that seek to restrain the inappropriate use of e-mail and telephone solicitations, and has invested time, capital, systems and human resources dedicated to compliance with laws,” wrote Kane.

Gordon first contacted the company in August over concerns with 27 unsolicited e-mail messages he claimed to have received from Commonwealth Marketing, said Kane. Gordon, according to the release, also offered to settle the claims for $10,800 in August.

“At that time, we looked into the allegations and determined that all e-mails sent to Gordon were sent with his permission,” wrote Kane.

The release indicated that Commonwealth Marketing confirmed that Gordon visited the company’s Web site and authorized e-mail contact. The company also refused to settle with him at that time, and “deemed his (August) claims to be nothing more than an attempt to extract money that he is not entitled to under the law.”

Kane maintained that all e-mail contact with Gordon was done within the letter of the law.

“Under all applicable laws, and all contact that we may have had with him was proper. However, at his request, we took all available measures to see that no e-mail messages were sent to Mr. Gordon from that time forward, and we strongly deny that our company sent him any messages,” wrote Kane.

However, according to the release, Gordon continued to access Commonwealth Marketing’s programs and Web sites.

As they did at the time of the August letter Gordon sent, Kane indicated that Commonwealth Marketing is responding to the lawsuit “with a total denial of liability.” In addition, the company plans to file counterclaims to the suit and separate legal actions.

“We are also referring the matter to local law enforcement in the state of Washington for their investigation of the fraud that we believe is being perpetrated against our company,” wrote Kane.

He added that Gordon filed three lawsuits similar to his claim against Commonwealth Marketing in the days around the filing of that suit. The response noted that the recent adoption of a federal anti-spam law that takes effect Jan. 1 has brought out a wave of similar suits in other states since the federal law will pre-empt state laws.

Kane also wrote that he took exception to inclusion of the past problems of former Commonwealth Marketing president Fredrick Zeigler, in jail for insurance fraud, in a prior article about the lawsuit. Zeigler is in a federal prison for claiming personal purchases were business expenses for Commonwealth Marketing.

“To attempt to relate this current lawsuit to Mr. Zeigler’s person legal matters, or for that matter, the company’s past is unfair and irrelevant to the matter at hand,” said Kane.