The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that a lawsuit against the paper filed by Marion K. Poynter, widow of Poynter Institute founder Nelson Poynter, has been withdrawn.
“Though the Institute was not a party to the dispute, we are very pleased that the Times and Mrs. Poynter were able to find common ground and a good resolution,” said Poynter President Neil Brown.
Nelson Poynter owned the St. Petersburg Times, now the Tampa Bay Times, until his death in 1978, and his widow’s charitable trust had been receiving money from the newspaper’s publishing company for years. When those payments ceased as the Times faced declining revenue, the trust sued the paper.
The Times reported that the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Virginia where 92-year-old Marion Poynter lives, has been withdrawn pursuant to a settlement with Times Publishing Co., the details of which were not disclosed.
The paper quotes Sherri Day, spokeswoman for the Tampa Bay Times, as saying, “We are pleased that we could resolve this without further litigation on terms that serve both Mrs. Poynter and the company.”
