
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995                   TAG: 9503200042
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TENCARVA ACCUSED OF LIBEL

Tencarva Machinery Co., a Greensboro, N.C., supplier of industrial equipment with a branch office in Roanoke, and one of its local employees, have been accused of libel in a suit filed by a competitor in Roanoke City Circuit Court.

A.W. Chesterton Co., Inc. of Stoneham, Mass., filed the civil suit against Tencarva and James W. Wallace III of Roanoke over a Dec. 21 incident.

Chesterton said both companies were attempting to sell an industrial pump to Burlington Industries Inc. at Hurt. The Massachusetts company said Wallace wrote a letter to Burlington asking for the business and adding: "One further note, rumor has it that Chesterton has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy."

Chesterton said that statement was false and defamatory because it prejudiced Chesterton in its trade. The company said it has been in business for more than a century, is financially sound and has never filed for bankruptcy.

A deputy clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the State of Massachusetts at Boston told the Roanoke Times & World-News that he had no record of a bankruptcy filing for the company.

Chesterton also accused Tencarva and Wallace of intentionally and maliciously interfering with the relationship between it and Burlington.

The company is seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.

Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this story.

by CNB