Update: Barnes & Noble director defends poison pill

New York Barnes & Noble board member Michael Del Giudice suggested in his testimony Tuesday that shareholders who don't like the company's poison pill could trigger it simply by agreeing to vote against it, according to a Tuesday report by the Associated Press.

The book retailer is defending the shareholder rights plan it adopted last year after billionaire Ron Burkle doubled his stake in the company.

Burkle is challenging the anti-takeover maneuver in a suit being heard in Delaware Chancery Court.

Barnes & Noble officials have testified that the terms of the poison pill are reasonable, and that shareholders will be given the chance to vote on it by mid-November. Del Giudice testified Tuesday that if investors holding more than 20% of the retailer’s shares agree to vote against the poison pill, that itself would trigger the pill.