ACBJ sues former Tampa publisher Bello

American City Business Journals is suing former Tampa Bay Business Journal publisher Bridgette Bello for repayment of loans granted in 2008 and 2009 totaling more than $195,000, reports Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics.

Schorsch writes, “Bello, then going by the name Bridgette Mill, signed two promissory notes with ACBJ in 2008 and 2009. The first, for $250,000, was meant ‘to assist Bridgette Mill with her relocation to Tampa, Florida and the purchase of a home,’ according to a copy of the note filed with the lawsuit on Jan. 9.

“The note called for repayment ‘from the proceeds of the sale of her former residence in Jacksonville, FL’ or ‘from the net proceeds of future bonus payments, starting with the bonus paid for 2008.’

“The note states the balance is due ‘at once if the employment … with the Lender or a subsidiary of the Lender shall terminate for any reason.’

“Bello was terminated from TBBJ, a subsidiary of ACBJ, on Jan. 15, 2018, according to the lawsuit.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.