Byron printer fights $2 million bill for U.K. postage

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A Byron printing company is fighting a $2.1 million postage bill that it says it doesn't owe.

According to a suit originally filed in Olmsted County District Court and moved Wednesday to Minneapolis' U.S. District Court, Schmidt Printing Inc. has printed and shipped advertisements direct to consumers in the United Kingdom since 1999.

Another company in the United Kingdom, Response Direct Publishing, paid the overseas postage due to Royal Mail, that nation's postal service. But when Response Direct Publishing entered bankruptcy last April, the company apparently stopped paying the mail service to deliver the packets of cards containing advertisements.

Then, in a letter to Schmidt dated Feb. 5, Pitney Bowes International Services demanded payment of $2,118,909 on behalf of Royal Mail for postage from April through January.

Schmidt, the suit said, is not legally obligated to pay, and wants a federal judge to agree. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen has been assigned to the case.

Pitney Bowes has not yet responded to the suit, filed by attorneys Douglas Peterson and Wade Davis of Minneapolis law firm Leonard, Street and Deinard.

Schmidt, owned by North Mankato-based Taylor Corp., employs more than 350 people and counts more than 200 newspapers as clients, according to the company's Web site.