In March 2007 Par Ridder was appointed "Star Tribune" publisher after his predecessor, J. Keith Moyer, left the newspaper after the sale. Ridder is a member of the Ridder family, which had owned Knight Ridder (publishers of several newspapers, including the rival "St. Paul Pioneer Press"). Ridder's arrival resulted in litigation when it was discovered that he had stolen a hard drive containing information about employees and advertisers which the "Pioneer Press" called "trade secrets". Ridder also took two high-ranking staff members with him to the Minneapolis paper, which raised eyebrows since such employees usually have non-compete clauses in their contracts. On September 18, 2007, Ridder was removed from his post by a Ramsey County judge, and he resigned on December 7.