business

The handwritten motion and the federal prison's return address should have raised some suspicions. But the allegations made for entertaining reading.

Greg LeMond bikes going to Iran? Slave-like wages paid to the workers who made the bikes?

Those allegations and more made their way to federal court in St. Paul recently, but a judge quickly put them to rest after finding that the man behind them is a serial lawsuit filer with a major credibility gap.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle last week threw out the attempt by a federal inmate to intervene in the business dispute between LeMond, of Medina, and Wisconsin-based manufacturer Trek Bicycle Corp.

It turns out that the inmate, Jonathan Lee Riches, makes a habit of filing lawsuits in federal court -- more than 1,000 to date -- and even has his own entry in the online resource Wikipedia.

Riches alleged that he and others in the South Carolina prison build bicycles that bear LeMond's picture and are paid 12 cents an hour, in violation of Minnesota labor law. He also said the bicycles are sent to Iran in violation of the federal "trading with the enemies act," and that LeMond admitted to him that he used performance-enhancing drugs while racing.

Kyle said the assertions were "completely divorced" from the business dispute between LeMond and Trek.

That's nothing new. According to Wikipedia, Riches has sued New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, lifestyle diva Martha Stewart and pop star Britney Spears. He's also sued the dead, including Plato, Nostradamus, Che Guevara and Jimmy Hoffa. His lawsuits also have involved the Eiffel Tower, the Appalachian Trail and Three Mile Island.

LeMond's attorney, Christopher Madel, said the allegations are simply fantasy.

"This is insane," Madel said. "Greg LeMond has never met this guy and doesn't know him. And Greg never used performance-enhancing drugs."

The first jury to hear evidence linking Parkinson's drug Mirapex to compulsive gambling came in with a big verdict against the drug's manufacturers late last week. The federal court jury in Minneapolis awarded a user of the drug $8 million, nearly all of which was for punitive damages.

The second of three so-called bellwether trials against manufacturers Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer is underway before U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum. A third trial is to follow. Several hundred similar suits have been filed against Mirapex, which is also advertised to treat restless leg syndrome, and the outcome of the three trials could prompt an out-of-court settlement for the remaining cases.

Good news at Salo, the fast-growing Minneapolis firm that provides finance and accounting professionals to companies on a temporary or permanent basis. Three of its folks were honored by the National Association of Women Business Owners. Founder and managing partner Amy Langer received the "Woman Business Owner of the Year" honor. Peggy DeMuse, a partner, got a "Woman of Achievement" award. And Gwen Martin, who heads Salo affiliate NumberWorks, was named a "Woman on the Way."

DAVID PHELPS