Homemaking diva’s firm sued

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

NEW YORK -- An investor in Martha Stewart's company has filed a lawsuit alleging she dumped shares of her own stock because she knew she would be investigated on suspicion of insider trading in the ImClone case.

The suit against Stewart was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of Howard Rosen, a shareholder in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The company denied the allegations.

Rosen alleges that Stewart and other company executives sold about 5.3 million shares in the company worth more than $79 million -- to avoid losses they would have suffered after the ImClone scandal surfaced in June. Stewart announced Jan. 8 that she had sold 3 million shares, or 9 percent of her stake, to ValueAct Capital Management, a hedge fund, for $45 million.

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