FINDLAY, Ohio (Nov. 4)—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said it will appeal an Indiana federal judge´s order to block the $1.17 billion sale of Cooper´s Cooper-Standard Automotive Division to the New York-based Cypress Group.
Judge Theresa Springmann of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana agreed with the United Steelworkers of America that the sale should not proceed until the union negotiates with the buyers.
In a news release, Thomas A. Dattilo, Cooper chairman, president and CEO, said the company took care in the sale agreement to protect employees and maintain all existing contractual agreements.
A USWA spokesman said he'd seen the Cooper release, but had heard nothing further about an appeal.
"The important thing is that the judge and the court agreed that our members would suffer irreparable harm if the sale went through without pre-sale negotiations," the union spokesman added.