Roers Management counsel says Shannon Roers Jones claims to the trademark office were accurate and appropriate. 5:30 am, Feb. 13, 2021 ×
A Roers Management construction project connected to the St. Paul’s Newman Center is seen Friday, Feb. 12, on the 1100 block of North University Drive in Fargo. The Fargo company is in a legal battle with a Minnesota developer, Roers Cos., over who has the rights to use the family name. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor
FARGO In a family legal battle to decide who has the right to call themselves Roers Cos., a Minnesota developer owned by nephews of the Roers Management founder alleges an attorney for the Fargo company, who is a North Dakota lawmaker, made willful false statements to a federal agency when trying to trademark the family name.
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BNSF freight train runs North through Buxton Wednesday afternoon. Jesse Trelstad/ Grand Forks Herald
BISMARCK An ex-BNSF Railway worker claims he was fired because he blew the whistle on emergency brake failures for coal trains in North Dakota and testified a coworker was injured on the job due to hazardous conditions.
Michael Fink of Bismarck is asking in a federal lawsuit for back pay, lost wages and benefits, damages for emotional distress, and other relief after the railway company let him go last year. He also wants his job back and up to $250,000 in punitive damages, according to the civil complaint filed Dec. 4 in North Dakota’s U.S. District Court against BNSF.
Jim Roers, a North Dakota state senator representing south Fargo, is not the only one capitalizing on the family name in construction. His nephews, Kent and Brian Roers, founded Roers Companies in 2012 as a real estate business. The name Roers Group dates back to 2004 as a registered name in Minnesota, according to the complaint.
Their portfolio includes a long list of apartments in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota.
The complaint said the nephews asked for help from their uncle. They said, according to the complaint, they planned to stay out of North Dakota, with the exception of the Bakken oil patch.