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Don Imus Sues CBS for Breach of Contract
4-May-2007
Written by: Edward Olivier
The controversial radio host accuses CBS of violating a clause encouraging him to engage in irreverent topics.
Don Imus, the recently dismissed radio host, will file a lawsuit next week against his former employer, CBS. The company pulled Imus’s plug after he called members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.”
The comment caused a chain reaction of protests, several against CBS, by national black leaders who considered the comment too offensive and racist. Mr. Imus quickly apologized, admitting that the comment was too much over the top.
Mr. Imus’s lawyer, Martin Garbus, argues that the host was doing “exactly what the company wanted him to do,” and that CBS agreed to give Mr. Imus an official warning before taking any radical action. Mr. Garbus adds that both CBS and MSNBC had a “delay button” and could have used it to block the comment from being broadcast.
CBS replies that Mr. Imus was fired under “just cause” and released the clause that reads, “Any on-air use by artist of any distasteful or offensive words or phrases, the broadcast of which company believes would not be in the public interest or may jeopardize company’s federal license to operate station.”
The company feared a punishment from the Federal Communications Commission for the use of such language, including the risk of losing their license.
To be continued in courts.
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