Lawyer Says Imus to Sue CBSD, Accusing it of Breaking Contract

LAWYER SAYS IMUS TO SUE CBS, ACCUSING IT OF BREAKING CONTRACT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
The lawyer for the ousted radio host Don Imus said yesterday that he would file a $40 million lawsuit against CBS next week, accusing it of breach of contract. The lawyer, Martin Garbus of Manhattan, said CBS violated a clause in Mr. Imus’s contract that specifically encouraged him to engage in what the clause called “extraordinary,” “irreverent” and “controversial” topics on his program. Mr. Garbus said the language in the clause he cited proved “they were creating a shock jock.” He said Mr. Imus was doing “exactly what they wanted him to do.” Mr. Garbus also said that CBS had agreed to give Mr. Imus an official warning after one incident of offensive language before taking action, and that “both CBS and MSNBC had a delay button and neither of them used them in this case.” CBS said: “We terminated Mr. Imus for cause. Based on the comments in question and relevant contract terms, we believe that the termination was appropriate and CBS would expect to prevail in any attempt by Mr. Imus to recover money for his actions.” Many issues in the case could turn on whether CBS had reason to worry that the Federal Communications Commission could punish the CBS stations for the use of such language. David Fiske, a spokesman for the F.C.C., said yesterday that Congress had told the commission to levy fines for profane or indecent language, but purely offensive words might not come under that standard. But the stations must also uphold community standards or risk challenges to their broadcast licenses, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/business/media/04imus.html
(requires registration)

* Legal Battle Brews Over Imus Contract With CBS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR200705...