NEWS Landlord Tries to Evict Whistleblower Tenant Written by
MIKE FITZGERALD
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woman who lives in the longtroubled Southwest Crossing apartment complex, in south St. Louis, says she and her family have been told to leave by the apartment owner because she spoke to the Riverfront Times for a story. The RFT story, published in late August, was about the wave of evictions facing St. Louis because of the economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the story, the woman — Janica Washington — said she and her four children would have nowhere to go if they were kicked out. Washington received a letter on September 18 from the Sansone Group informing her she had com-
Needles Out in Quilting Suppliers’ Rivalry Written by
DANNY WICENTOWSKI
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he outline of a stitch and a circular color pattern featured in the logo of a Missouri-based quilt-box subscription service is at the center of a trademark dispute launched in federal court this past week. Cotton Cuts, a Chesterfield company that also operates a retail location in the Chesterfield Mall, is now asking a federal judge to decide whether its “Rosa” logo, a circular swirl of colorful fabrics, is being infringed by the logo of a competing quilt-box subscription service. That company, Kentucky-based Paper Pieces, runs a service called Quilty Box.
Terrell Porter holds the eviction letter he received from Sansone Group. | MIKE FITGERALD mitted an infraction of tenant rules “due to over occupancy for a two bedroom apartment home per publicized Riverfront Times interview.” Four days later, Washington and her husband Terrell Porter received a letter of termination of vacancy from Sansone informing them they had 30 days to vacate for non-payment of rent. “The first thing that came to my mind was, ‘They can’t do this,’” Washington says. She and Porter acknowledge they have not paid rent in recent months. But that’s because they Its logo features a stitched outline and a color arrangement that, as described in an August 18 cease-and-desist letter from Cotton Cuts, represents a “blatant copy” of the Rosa design. “Clearly, Quilty Box’s continued use of this infringing logo will lead to confusion among consumers,” the letter stated, noting that Cotton Cuts had registered its design in 2016, while Paper Pieces launched its Quilty Box service in 2019. Among the infringing elements, Cotton Cuts argued that Quilty Box had lifted “external stitching fully encompassing the rainbow elements” and “rainbow patterned elements emanating from a white center.” Cotton Cuts’ letter demanded that Paper Pieces remove its Quilty Box logo from the web and social media. But ten days later, Paper Pieces fired off its own cease-and-desist letter, accusing Cotton Cuts of essentially committing the same infringement. The letter from Paper Pieces’ attorney began, “Thank you for making us aware of your infringe-
have joined the apartment complex’s few remaining tenants in a rent strike in response to what they say is Sansone’s failures to repair a wide range of health and safety problems since the company took over management last December. These defects include mold growing on many apartment ceilings walls, leaking pipes, crumbling plaster and drywall, flies in refrigerators and the strong odor of feces emanating from the ground floor of the apartment building where Washington and Porter live with their four kids.
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“I don’t know what’s happening down there,” Washington says. “I just know it smells like feces.” Other tenants interviewed for this story recite a litany of other problems in the apartment complex, including accounts of the many vacant and boarded-up apartments being used as venues for drug dealing, prostitution and the sheltering of homeless people. Jim Sansone, the designated spokesman for Sansone Group, did not return multiple calls seeking comment. Washington and Porter plan on talking to the ArchCity Defenders, a local legal aid group, to challenge the order to vacate. “I know this was not right,” Porter says. “I know you can’t evict us for having an interview with the Riverfront Times. That’s not right at all.” Washington and Porter still have a few cards left to play. St. Louis city officials extended the city’s eviction moratorium until Nov. 6 — the second month in a row they took that step. In addition, Washington and Porter have not received any court paperwork, signed by a judge, ordering them to leave their apartment, as required by law. Porter called Sansone Group “heartless” for seeking to evict a family during the middle of a nationwide pandemic. “This is just wrong,” Porter says. n
Logos of Cotton Cots (left) and Paper Pieces are at the center of the quilting beef. | SCREENSHOTS ment of our trademark.” In its response, Paper Pieces noted that its Quilty Box logo was based on the company’s older logo design, which it had been using since 2002. “Our Quilty Box logo is derived from our branding,” the letter stated. “As you can clearly see, your logo is very close to our registered trademark.” In its lawsuit filed this week, Cot-
riverfronttimes.com
ton Cuts countered once again with its claims that its Rosa design is the one being infringed; the company wants the judge to resolve the “actual controversy” over which logo is violating the trademark of the other. Messages left last week with the attorneys representing the companies were not immediately returned. n
OCTOBER 7-13, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
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