Business briefs for July 19, 2001

Thursday, July 19, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

Board suspends contractor's license

The Nevada State Contractors Board said it has suspended the license of Las Vegas-based Christiansen Pools, which is accused of failing to complete several projects for which it has allegedly been paid.

Sonya Ruffin, the board's spokeswoman, said the board believes Christiansen's office is now empty and is concerned consumers may have no recourse if they had problems with their pools.

"No one is in place to complete the pools and there's no one for consumers to contact if they had problems," she said.

The contractor could not be reached for comment on the board's charges.

Boxing promoter sues two LV restaurants

Boxing promoter Don King sued two Las Vegas restaurants and their owners, alleging they misappropriated his exclusive broadcast license rights to a March 7, 1999, championship boxing match.

King Vision Pay-Per-View Ltd. of Deerfield, Fla., which said it was licensed to broadcast a closed-circuit telecast of the match between Julio Cesar Chavez and Miguel Angel Gonzalez from the Plaza de Toros Bull Ring in Mexico City in theaters, bars, clubs and restaurants in Nevada, filed separate lawsuits against the two restaurants in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuits allege both restaurants, Cordobes Mexican restaurant and its owner, Bertha Remirez, and El Tenampa Mexican restaurant and its owner, Molly Holguin, violated federal communications laws when they "willfully intercepted and/or received the interstate communication of the (match) and then (broadcasted the match) to patrons ... while avoiding proper payment to King."

The suits said the transmission of the match was electronically coded or "scrambled" and had to be decoded with electronic decoding equipment and satellite coordinates. King said he lost "an unquantifiable loss of future business (from) those persons who won't patronize his subscribers on the assumption they can view similar events at unauthorized establishments."

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

LV firm sues over loss of business

Custom Teleconnect Inc. of Las Vegas sued to recover at least $700,000 in damages from a Norcross, Ga.-based telephone directory assistance service provider, alleging it used Custom's proprietary information to steal its business.

Custom sued International Tele-Services Inc. doing business as D.A. For Less Inc. in U.S. District Court, alleging it undercut Custom's business with its customer, Cox Communications Inc. of Atlanta, by allegedly offering Cox directory assistance call services.

Cox, a diversified telecommunications company, provides, in addition to cable television, high-speed Internet access and telephone services in areas including Phoenix, Orange County and San Diego.

The suit said Custom provided proprietary information including names of its clients to D.A. For Less as part of a confidential agreement in which D.A. For Less would provide directory assistance services on a per transaction basis for certain Custom customers.

The defendant could not be reached for comment.