Hertz claim for defamation

In a complaint lodged last Friday with the Bergen County Superior Court in New Jersey, Hertz has accused Audit Integrity Inc and its chief executive Jack Zwingli of defamation and trade libel over a September 15 report that included Hertz among 20 large companies that were most likely to declare bankruptcy within a year.

Mark Frissora, chief executive of Hertz said in a statement that the lawsuit was an appropriate response to the publication of false and harmful information about the company.

Hertz shares have risen in the past days on the New York Stock Exchange, with Audit Integrity launching the report on September 16 and that Zwingli discussed it the next day on the CNBC television network, which is owned by General Electric.

The company said that the unmistakable assertion disseminated by defendants in their public statements is that Hertz lacks integrity, lies to shareholders and others, engages iun fraudulent financial reporting, and is heading for bankruptcy.

Hertz is seeking financial damages, including punitive damages and a retraction, among other remedies.  According to the company’s website, Audit Integrity provides accounting and governance risk analysis, using proprietary modelling that effectively detects and measures fraud and transparency-related risks in over 8,500 public companies.