Newspapers allowed to hire investigator

Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C. can use a private investigator to look into security breaches, including the leak of an internal planning document to the committee representing the firm's unsecured creditors, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled yesterday.

Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Raslavich agreed that the company could spend up to $25,000 to use SafirRosetti, a security firm, to investigate the leak and review the overall integrity of the company's protection of internal documents.

Anne Aaronson, the company's attorney, told Raslavich that SafirRosetti had already launched its investigation and had identified the employee responsible for the leak. She told reporters later that the company was still weighing what disciplinary action might be taken. She did not identify the employee.

The company sought permission to hire SafirRosetti after the Committee of Unsecured Creditors asked Raslavich to order the company to end its "Keep It Local!" campaign.

In its motion opposing the campaign, the unsecured creditors included a copy of an internal company planning document that outlined how the campaign would unfold.

The Committee of Unsecured Creditors opposed the company's request, arguing it represented an unneeded expense. If asked, committee attorney Ben Logan said, the committee would have said how it had gotten the planning document.

Pressed by Raslavich, Logan said it had come from Bill Ross, administrative officer of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia Newspapers' largest union and a member of the Committee of Unsecured Creditors.

Logan said he did not know how Ross, who is not a company employee, got the document. Ross did not return a call for comment yesterday.