IVillage Sued by Two Former Executives

IVillage, a commercial Web site aimed at women, has been sued by two executives who claim they were lured to top jobs at the company from established firms and then fired without being provided promised stock options. Steven Carter, a former executive at NBC Cable Networks, and Joanne Hindman, the ex-finance chief at Newsweek magazine, allege in lawsuits filed in federal court in New York that IVillage Chief Executive Candice Carpenter aggressively recruited them to posts at her Internet start-up. Carpenter offered each 280,000 shares in stock options in addition to their base salaries to join her company, according to the suits, which were filed by the same attorney. Carter, who began his job in July 1997 as executive vice president for sales, says he declined to follow “questionable business practices” by IVillage. He says he was demoted and fired in October 1998. Hindman says she was hired in September 1997 as chief financial officer, only to discover that IVillage was improperly recognizing revenue prematurely. She says she complained and was fired after three months. A spokesman for New York-based IVillage said the company had not seen the lawsuits and could not comment. Shares of IVillage closed unchanged at $17.63 on Nasdaq.