Federal Judge Shirley Kornreich has slapped a temporary restraining order on Archie Comics Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit that bars her from entering the company headquarters and states plainly that “she is not to do anything for Archie Comics Productions."  The judge’s ruling came before a contempt hearing on whether Silberkleit violated a previous court order that told her not to have any contact with staff or vendors concerning matters that were not required by her employment contract (see “Archie Gets Injunction”). Silberkleit admitted to having contact with freelancers about writing an anti-bullying comic that she announced last week (see “The Battle for Riverdale Heats Up”).

 

The New York Daily News reports that Silberkleit acknowledged the contact with freelancers, saying, “I thought it was a good idea to do a book about bullying because I am right here in the midst of it myself.” Silberkleit, who inherited 50% of Archie Comics from her late husband Louis, the son of the company’s co-founder, is locked in corporate smackdown with Co-CEO Jonathan Goldwater the grandson of the company’s other co-founder. While Goldwater has charged Silberkleit with verbally harassing employees and fellow executives at Archie (see “Archie Comics Files Suit Against Co-CEO”), Silberkleit maintains that she is up against an “old boy” network determined to drive her from the company.

 

Among the major disputes between the two sides is Silberkleit’s refusal to dilute her ownership stake in the company by bringing in outside investors, and her attempt to get an Archie Comics-themed show on Broadway, during which, according to Goldwater, she gave up too much control over the company’s squeaky clean characters.  With the dispute boiling down to a “he said, she said” sort of gender-based dispute, it will be up to the courts to determine who is the real “Jughead” at Archie Comics.