This is pretty crazy: American Tower (NYSE: AMT) has sued former Goldman Sachs executive Jide Zeitlin, alleging that he forwarded a negative article on the stock to two top institutional investors following the company -- and used CEO Jame Taiclet's name in the sender line, creating the impression that it was him forwarding the article.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Zeitlin left Goldman Sachs in 2005 and later founded Independent Mobile Infrastructure Ltd., a closely held rival of American Tower that owns, leases and operates wireless towers in India ... The complaint alleges that Mr. Zeitlin also provided Fortune reporter Bethany McLean with information for the article, which looked at the company's executive-compensation practices."

Mr. Zeitlin is accused of computer fraud and defamation. The suit alleges that the email "was part of a longstanding and ongoing pattern of conduct intended to undermine American Tower's relationships with its investors and its position in the mobile infrastructure marketplace to the defendants' benefit."

The merits of the lawsuit aside, it certainly appears -- if the reports are correct -- that Mr. Zeitlin, who is on the board of directors at Coach and is chairman of the board at Amherst College, may have behaved badly.

Question is whether pursuing such a lawsuit against a competitor who may have engaged in a fairly childish ploy to undermine the company, is really a worthwhile use of shareholder capital, legal fees and management's time? I'm not so sure.