Dispute between Pornography CEO and his employees over first amendment rights brings into question serious new issues of laws and hypocrisy.
Stan and Monique Antonuk from Palm Harbor Florida have heretofore enjoyed a rather posh lifestyle. Living in his well appointed home in Palm Harbor Florida, 41 year-old Stan Antonuk seems to be a successful Chief Executive Officer of Kowabunga (AMEX: THK - News), an online advertising company that is publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange.
But, if the public filings of Antonuk's Kowabunga business are closely reviewed they reveal a seedy underworld to the Antonuk's otherwise wholesome life.in fact, much of the earnings for Kowabunga come from their Direct Marketing division which includes several obscene sites disclosed in their public filings and revealing that Antonuk's Online Advertising business is somewhat of a front for an online porn and sex business. To earn some of these profits, Antonuk's bsuiness promotes home-based sex parties that encourage participants to engage in wife-swapping (known as Swinger Parties) not only in the Tampa Bay area but across the country.
In July of Antonuk made local headlines in the Tampa Bay area after attempting to build a strategic alliance between his wife-swapping pornography business and local nudist resorts such as Caliente located in Land O' Lakes, Florida. After a very vocal protest by outraged nudists, Antonuk abandoned his company's efforts to proliferate the swinging lifestyle throughout the nudist community and redirected his resources to promoting the swinging lifestyle through more obvious channels like holding promotional parties at swinger events such as SwingFest.
Although not everyone might agree with Mr. Antonuk's business practices he clearly enjoys and makes the most of his constitutional right to free speech.
Over the past several months Antonuk and his Kowabunga Pornography business have come under scrutiny by current and former employees, the Tampa Bay media, and either formal or informal religious organizations and Antonuk does not seem to happy about it.in the same period the stock price of Kowabunga has dropped more than 40%, former Kowabunga executives are suing the company for Antonuk trespassing and violating their privacy, Antonuk has filed lawsuits over anonymous employee blogs where their opinions about the company are discussed openly, masses of employees have been fired, and rumors about sexual harassment claims and other violations are abound. Antonuk literally seems to be at war with his employees and shareholders over his rights to censor, monitor, and control their opinions and private communications and his company seems to be imploding under the weight of his spiteful temper tantrum. This $33 million market company posted an astonishing $34 million net loss last quarter.
When examining the circumstances of Antonuk and his company a valuable business lesson emerges. As managers and executives we must recognize and acknowledge that the rights and freedoms of our employees are the same and sometimes broader than our own.
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