Hilton Head magazine company ordered to pay nearly $400K in contract lawsuit, judge says
Editor’s Note: This story had been corrected since publication regarding information on the S.C. Secretary of State’s website. Mark Frey is listed as the registered agent for both Monthly Media LLC and Trio Publishing LLC, according to the website.
A Hilton Head Island magazine company was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 after the company that printed its magazines sued for non-payment, according to court documents.
A federal judge ordered a publishing company associated with Hilton Head Monthly, called Trio Publishing LLC, to pay a Pennsylvania-based printing company after the magazine company “failed and refused” to pay them, the lawsuit states.
The judgment was filed electronically on Friday on the state court’s website.
The case was filed on Nov. 13, 2019 in U.S. District Court of South Carolina by a lawyer for Fry Communications, the printing company.
Trio Publishing did not respond to the original court summons brought by the printing company. A federal judge then issued a default ruling in Fry Communications’ favor because there was no answer to the lawsuit, according to records.
Marc Frey, CEO of Trio Publishing, said in an interview that Trio Publishing and Hilton Head Monthly are separate entities, and the publication of the magazine won’t be affected by the lawsuit.
The LLC that owns Hilton Head Monthly is called Monthly Media, according to Frey.
The S.C. Secretary of State’s website shows that Monthly Media and Trio Publishing are listed to the same address on Hilton Head and to the same person: Marc Frey.
Of the monetary judgment, Frey said negotiations with the printing company are ongoing.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
