Austin, TX-based image consulting firm Empowerment Enterprises and its founder/president, Sherry Maysonave, on July 8 amended the lawsuit they filed last September against Lands’ End. The federal lawsuit charges the apparel and home goods cataloger with violating intellectual property law and copyright infringement.
In a statement, Maysonave said that Lands’ End used material “that I spent years developing.” She alleged that the cataloger had asked her in late 1999, after she published her book “Casual Power,” to become “a paid member of the Lands’ End advisory board and [to develop] business casual content” for its Website. Then, the suit continues, “under the guise of finalizing the business arrangement, Maysonave was asked to provide advice and detailed recommendations.” But in March 2000, according to the suit, Lands’ End told Maysonave via e-mail that it would use its own content instead.
Jan Drummond, a spokesperson for Lands’ End’s new parent firm, Sears, Roebuck & Co., said in a statement that the claim “is without merit, and we’ll vigorously defend against the allegations.” According to Drummond, Lands’ End tried to negotiate a settlement after the initial suit was filed, but the plaintiff’s demands were “unreasonable.”