Hertz (NYSE:HTZ) has sued an analyst for malicious misrepresentation over a report that said the car-rental company was among companies with the highest probability of declaring bankruptcy in the next year.
According to Reuters, in a complaint filed Friday with the Bergen County Superior Court in New Jersey, the world’s largest car rental company accused research firm Audit Integrity Inc. and its chief executive, Jack Zwingli, of “defamation and trade libel over a Sept. 15 report that included Hertz among 20 large companies most likely to declare bankruptcy within a year.”
In a statement Monday, Hertz Chairman and CEO Mark P. Frissora called the suit “an appropriate response to the publication of false and harmful information about his company. Not only are the conclusions about our financial health baseless,” he said, “but questioning the integrity of our financial reporting is indefensible.”
Audit Integrity Chief Executive Jack Zwingli, also sued by Hertz, said in a statement he was “disappointed that Hertz has taken this action in an attempt to stifle an opinion they do not agree with.”
HTZ shares are up 10 cents, or 0.94%, at $10.79 in afternoon trading on the NYSE. The stock has more than doubled this year.
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