A one-time on-air host for Home Shopping Network is suing the giant St. Petersburg-based omnichannel retailer for breach of contract a day after it was sold to rival QVC. Akos Jankura — known as “The Solutionist” — is the host of My Cool Inventions, a radio show that markets listener-submitted inventions. Many of those products were sold through its website, MyCoolGadgets.com.
A former bartender at Hogan’s Beach in Tampa is accusing the now-closed club of encouraging “pervasive” sexual harassment. Lorna Marie Perez is a 32-year-old Pinellas Park resident who began working for Hogan’s Beach — the namesake of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan — in 2013.
For the seventh year in a row, the exclusive Innisbrook golf resort in Palm Harbor is contesting a ‘defective’ Pinellas County tax assessment, part of a battle waged on and off since 1998. Innisbrook is now owned by Virginia-based Salamander Hotels & Resorts, which was founded by Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson. Salamander purchased the resort in 2007, reportedly for $35-million, from Golf Trust, which had taken over the property from Golf Host Resorts.
A former student government leader at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg is accusing the school of wrongly expelling him over allegedly false accusations of sexual wrongdoing. In a suit against the University filed June 28 in Pinellas County Circuit Court, “John Doe” says that he and the female student — identified as “Jane Roe” — had “entirely consensual” vaginal and anal sex Sept. 28, 2016, in his on-campus dorm room.
A legal battle has begun over St. Petersburg’s defunct North Ward School, with a flamboyant developer taking a struggling franchisee to court after it pulled out as anchor of the shopping center project on Fourth Street North. Self-described “creative real estate investor” Jonathan Daou bought the site on 327 11th Ave. N from the Pinellas County School District in January 2014 – promising to reuse, repurpose and not “tear down” the school.
It’s not been a good month for Chris Fuller. The renowned St. Petersburg-based independent filmmaker is accused of “hacking” an ex-employer, according to a lawsuit filed in Pinellas County, while he also faces a stalking complaint from an ex-girlfriend. Founded in 2016, Global Widget is a Lutz-based manufacturer and distributor of health supplements via retailers and more than a dozen websites such as hempbombs.com, getgrowmax.com, getfocuzeen.com, and getbeefup.com. Donald Paul Biedrzycki Jr., a 40-year-old resident of Wesley Chapel, co-owns Global…
A one-time head of the city of St. Petersburg Business Assistance Center is suing former Mayor Bill Foster and staff members for her ouster, despite promises of “job safety.” Shrimatee Ojah-Maharaj is a 60-year-old St. Petersburg resident who has worked for the City of St. Petersburg since 1990, with a current title of Grants Officer. She began her career with the city under former two-term Mayor Rick Baker. From 2003 to mid-2013, Ojah-Maharaj managed the city’s Business Assistance Center, which…
