W.B. David Heats up Battle against De Beers – on Prior Knowledge

American diamond company W.B. David is heating up its battle against diamond miner and supplier De Beers when it released an announcement saying De Beers had prior knowledge of the lawsuit, receiving an early copy of it.

In a statement to the press, W.B. David is quoting a De Beers spokesperson that has said on the complaint “Nothing has been served on DTC/De Beers and we are not in a position to comment”.

W.B. David responded, saying: “We gave a copy of the complaint to De Beers prior to filing it with the Court as part of our year-long effort to resolve our differences on an amicable basis”.

“De Beers, however, was not at all forthcoming and accordingly, we filed the complaint with the Court. Our attorneys have now also mailed copies of the summons and complaint to the De Beers entities, their principals, DTC and other defendants and, in accordance with the applicable court Rules, have requested those defendants to waive formal service. In the event they fail to do so within the time required by law, formal process will then be served upon them,” the statement continues.

W.B. David filed suit July 1 in federal court in Manhattan against 90 defendants, including De Beers entities, their principals, the DTC, Diamdel, ad agency J. Walter Thompson, DTC Sightholders, their accountants and others for $100 million, injunctive relief and attachment of De Beers' U.S. assets.

That lawsuit is now pending under Civil Action Number 04 CV 5203 and has been assigned to United States District Judge Kimba M. Wood and United States Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox.