Юрист Mazda потребовал от автосалонного блогера прекратить травлю сотрудников и угрозы

Car salesperson Michael Pashut built a persona around consumer advocacy through a podcast linked to his used listings website. However, some have described him as a bully who targets individuals in companies personally if they spurn requests for commercial support. Via its legal counsel, Mazda SA sent a letter of demand to Pashut “to stop the harassment and personal attacks” against MD Bonite van der Merwe and marketing head Deolinda Da Costa. Pashut, who operates a sales business named Auto & Bus and the classifieds website Change Cars, sent a WhatsApp voice note to Van der Merwe saying the company’s marketing team was “not just mildly retarded but totally retarded” after excluding him from an upcoming launch event. “Mazda are incompetent and stupid and I want this brand to fail,” he said in the voice note. He blasted the brand and the employees in his podcast. Mazda SA’s attorney Emma Sadleir called for Pashut to withdraw “untrue, defamatory and threatening allegations” and cited his use of the word “retard” as grounds for a hate speech complaint. The letter said his behaviour amounts to harassment, crimen injuria and extortion. Pashut’s statements included: - “Bonite, let’s be crystal clear, Craig Roberts [previous MD] stuffed up the brand, and putting you in charge was like putting a head girl in a principal’s position.” - “You personally have zero vision and zero ability to show one ounce of appreciation to an individual that has gone out of his way to assist Mazda South Africa.” - “Mazda deserves to succeed but under an individual I see as weak and absolutely ill-equipped mentally to deal with the growth of the brand, it will fail.” - “I will no longer recommend Mazda when there are far more compelling options from the Chinese. For my position to change I would have to see Deolinda da Costa removed from her position as head of marketing and communications, a position she is ill-equipped to handle.” - “You have insulted me for the last time with your arrogance, stupidity and lack of respect for what we represent.” Pashut threatened to send e-mails to management at the brand’s head office in Japan and promised to dedicate a podcast episode to the “terminal decline” of Mazda. According to Mazda, Pashut made contact in 2023 with a proposal to enter into a commercial relationship. The parties met, but Mazda declined Pashut’s proposal. “Subsequently, and as a direct result of Mazda’s decision not to pay you to market their products, you have embarked on a campaign of disinformation, defamation and harassment against our clients,” read the letter of demand. Da Costa said Pashut was aggressive, including streams of messages, e-mails and late-night calls. She also wanted to correct misinformation by Pashut, including that the brand has 22 dealerships. Da Costa said there were 33 Mazda dealerships and the brand has no intention of exiting the SA market. Pashut has been in the public eye for his behaviour before. Earlier this year a video of Pashut on a hysterical tirade against a fleet manager went viral after what seemed to be a misunderstanding concerning a test vehicle’s delivery. Last year, he publicly challenged Stanley Anderson, CEO of the Motus-operated Hyundai brand, to get behind the wheel of a Hyundai Grand i10 and crash it after the car received a zero-star Global NCAP rating. He published Anderson’s contact details on social media and asked followers to rally around the challenge. In a TikTok video on January 19 Pashut addressed the shareholders at Motus amid the company’s retrenchments and salary cuts, saying he wanted an opportunity to serve on the board to champion staff’s rights. Volkswagen Group Africa confirmed it sent Pashut a letter requesting him to refrain from publishing or disseminating personal information of employees after he shared the contact number of its MD Martina Biene on a podcast episode. Without confirming if any legal steps were taken, Hyundai SA said it made a deliberate decision not to engage in public exchanges. “Our preference was to remain focused on our customers, dealers and business rather than allow the situation to become a distraction,” said the company’s response to our query. A November 11 2012 Sunday Times article reported Pashut once faced charges of intimidation and impersonation of a police officer when enraged by Capetonian Neels Stander’s vehicle registration “Fuhrer-WP”. Citing court documents, the article said Pashut allegedly threatened to put Stander in the boot of his vehicle and set it alight. It was reported the matter was struck off the roll after the docket did not arrive in court on two occasions. Stander was reported to have surrendered the undesirable licence plate after a complaint to Cape Town traffic authorities by the Jewish Board of Deputies. On Tuesday, we extended right of reply to Pashut, sharing the attorney’s letter and the voice note. He retorted with questions of his own: how we came into possession of the information, how much Mazda spends on the publication in advertising, why the story was newsworthy and how we came to know about Volkswagen’s letter to him. Later in the day Pashut requested a telephone call. The recorded conversation lasted nearly 30 minutes. He said he would not be responding to the e-mail right of reply unless his queries were addressed by 7pm. “Everything I do is to see my industry thrive and the public protected. There are more important stories around Mazda, like their declining sales and lack of new models,” he said during the call. He asked for clarification about harassment of the Mazda employees and said the voice note was private correspondence between him and Van Der Merwe. “In 2023 we reached out to Mazda regarding helping the brand, never with a marketing proposal or money, there’s not a single manufacturer in SA that pays us. We spoke to them about doing something called All Things Mazda, Craig [former MD] was very excited. “You are welcome to do any article you like. We are also media, you will not be intimidating us. “I’m saying to you nicely, I’m a patient guy, I’m a transparent guy. I don’t fear you doing an article, but equally, if you do an article, we can also do an article. “You’re not smarter than me, my man. I’m not saying I’m smarter than you, but please don’t think you’re smarter than me.” Pashut tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, oddly asking about this author’s relationship status. “Maybe because I’m heterosexual that offends you, I don’t know. Am I wrong? Because if I asked you if you were married, why would you not answer?” On the matter regarding the fleet manager, Pashut declined to comment on whether he suffered from anger management issues. The conversation ended with him accusing the publication of conspiring with Motus and Sadleir to undermine his work. TimesLIVE