Ex-DEN Employees Win Judgment

Three former employees of Digital Entertainment Network have won a $4.5-million default judgment against the bankrupt Santa Monica Internet company’s three founders--Marc Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce. The Los Angeles County Superior Court judgment was entered in December after the DEN founders failed to respond to accusations of rape, assault and death threats by the three employees, including one who was allegedly abused at age 15. A former attorney for the DEN founders did not return a telephone call Tuesday seeking comment. The executives left DEN in late 1999 after Collins-Rector settled a New Jersey sex molestation suit filed by a teen who had worked at his previous firm. At the time, Collins-Rector denied the charges. DEN, which produced Internet video shows aimed at teenagers, withdrew its initial public stock offering during the controversy and filed for bankruptcy protection last year. At one time, DEN had more than 300 employees.