The Shocking Fall of a 197-Year-Old Giant: What Really Happened to Baker & Taylor, the Library’s Lifeline?
We can’t predict what will happen next. However, it looks like Baker & Taylor will be racking up some more legal fees. They were recently sued by OCLC.
And, Baker & Taylor is no stranger to litigation. According to Wikipedia:
In 1999, Baker & Taylor paid a settlement of $3 million USD to the U.S. government to settle a federal lawsuit. The suit claimed that Baker & Taylor had overcharged the federal government, as well as state and local libraries using federal funds. These charges occurred after 1992, when Baker & Taylor was sold by its then-parent company, W. R. Grace and Company. Baker & Taylor denied all allegations. Baker & Taylor and its former parent company W. R. Grace agreed August 2 to pay $15.5 million to settle allegations that they overcharged schools and libraries in 18 states for books over more than 10 years. B&T, after spending five years in litigation with the U.S. government over an alleged violation of the False Claims Act, settled with the Department of Justice in July 1999 in return for release from all federal civil liability. B&T has had other legal problems, notably U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered on July 10, 2013 a consent decree resolving a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
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