Keith Olbermann Countersued By Current TV

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: TMZ

Current TV has filed a countersuit in its war with Keith Olbermann ... claiming the "Countdown" host got his walking papers, in part, because he BARELY showed up to work.

In the docs, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Current TV claims Olbermann missed 19 out of 41 work days in January and February in his attempt to "sabotage" the network.

Current also claims Olbermann once smashed a glass mug on the set. Earlier this week, an email emerged in which a Current employee detailed the incident ... voicing concerns that other employees could've slipped on the water or could have been cut by the shards.

As we previously reported, Olbermann filed his lawsuit against the network yesterday ... demanding between $50 mil and $70 mil in unpaid compensation.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/06/keith-olbermann-countersued-by-current-tv/#.T386h5nOy-0

---

It looks like this is going to get ugly.

[sabbat hunter]

1. wasn't he on doctor ordered

bed rest due to severe laragytis and bronchitis? That should be easy enough to prove with a doctors note.

[GoCubsGo]

5. Yes.

He was hacking away on the air on several occasions during that period, too. I'm sure some here will say he faked that.

[Justice wanted]

8. Exactly but of course EVERYTHING is Keith's fault.

[krawhitham]

10. It is never Keith's fault, every media company he has worked for has fired him without reason

[leftynyc]

15. ESPN, Fox Sports, MSNBC and now Current

are all obviously in on the conspiracy to defame poor little keith. People need to get into their heads that just because someone shares your politics doesn't mean he's not an asshole.

[RKP5637]

17. I've lost all respect for KO. I used to watch him all the time on MSNBC almost

until he left. Now, rather than helping the progressive cause IMO he's working against it ... against the only hint of a progressive station on air or cable. I think of him as an asshole anymore.

[Snake Alchemist]

28. Al Gore gave the order each time. nt

[frylock]

12. i have an alcoholic friend..

according to him, everything is the fault of everyone else. keith's reputation as an insufferable dickhole is legend throughout the industry.

[IndyJones]

20. Yeah, I really prefer Ben Affleck's version of Keith Olbermann more than the KO version of KO.

Truly one of the best SNL skits evah!

[BootinUp]

29. Haahaha I had to go look it up!

I don't want to sound like I have a big head, but sometime back it was clear to me that he jumped the shark with his special comments.

[XemaSab]

32. Hi-fucking-larious

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/805561/

I think I scared the dog with my laughing.

[MADem]

43. OMG that WAS funny!

This is why liberals are better at humor than conservatives--they tell it like it is, even if they're telling on themselves!

Miss Precious Perfect was a cute cat--a bit overly-accessorized, but that wasn't her fault!

[Incitatus]

33. How long does laragytis last?

Even when he was on MSNBC I remember him being absent often. I loved his shows when he actually did them, but he did seem to take a LOT of time off.

[Justice wanted]

35. A lot of throat issues that can lead a person unable to speak. My friend had trouble with

cyst on her vocal cords. It was our junior year and it just drove her nuts for 3 months. One point she had no voice for 2 weeks. She ended up getting surgery to get them cut out and after the surgery she wasn't allowed to talk for a week straight. She couldn't sing for a month.


(But you know I'm just a stupid Keith defender so what the hell do I know.)

[calimary]

47. Hey, just another stupid Keith defender here. My issue was the production values.

Or lack thereof. I would have been pissed too.

The audio was 100% screwed up. All the time. When we'd switch back to MSNBC, we'd have to turn the volume way back down or blow out the speakers. Whoever was supposedly on the case at Current has NO clue, engineering-wise.

Then I watched as The Young Turks had a great set and lots of backup and support. Then Jennifer Granholm had a really nice set and lots of backup and support. But what about "Countdown"? Just a piddly little black background? WTF??? Were they trying to humiliate him? Slap him in the face in public like that? It just seemed really ridiculous. And yeah, the lighting would fail in the middle of the segment. And they'd upcut all over the place. It was as though they hired the summer sub-relief techies who fill in for the regular summer relief techies. It was ridiculous. Their FLAGSHIP prime time show with their biggest marquee talent and they gave him shit for technical support. I was embarrassed for him. And a couple of times they didn't even start the show on time. And they kept messing up the intro animation as well as the audio levels.

THEN, a couple of days into Eliot Spitzer's new show, we turned it on, and the horizontal hold was kaput. And of course you switch stations to make sure it's not your TV and it proves not to be your TV. You go back to Current, and you're seeing half of Eliot Spitzer at the bottom of the screen and the panel supposedly under him onscreen actually appears in the upper half of the screen with this big black horizontal border cutting across the screen - WTF???? It stayed like that for a full three-and-a-half minutes at the top of the show before somebody in the control room finally woke up from his or her nap. Made the whole network look like frickin' AMATEUR HOUR. Do they not have ANYONE on staff actually MONITORING what goes out to viewers? Is ANYONE in charge of keeping track of how the feed actually looks when it goes out? No wonder their audience dropped from 100K to 30K viewers. It was an abject embarrassment! A rinky-dink network - MAN they have no idea how true that is, or how true that LOOKS. The only thing that kept us tuned in was Keith himself. The slipshod technical stuff - just an embarrassment. They should be ashamed of themselves for presenting a botch-job like that. It wasn't worthy of Keith Olbermann, and it CERTAINLY wasn't worthy of Current's audience. And it was a DISASTROUS disservice to the progressive effort to counter-act the CONservative media monopoly. roger ailes must be laughing HARD. Made us all look like rank amateurs and not-ready-for-prime-time-players. It was a big joke. A NOT-funny joke.

I swear, what they were purportedly spending for his contract - they couldn't have found the money to give him a first-class-looking show??? They certainly seemed to be able to do so for their other hosts. I'd have been super pissed, too, if I'd been handled that way. It doesn't sound like they lived up to their side of the bargain.

[Justice wanted]

49. I hear exactly what you are saying. I have voiced the same things that pissed you off on other

threads.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Divorces are usually contentious

and sometimes over petty things.
Smashed a glass mug????
Guess they should have just shot him on the spot for that.

[NYCGirl]

3. It wasn't so much the smashing of the glass,

but the behavior that accompanied it.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/keith-olbermann-lawsuit-frivolous-current-says-cross-complaint-36853

[MADem]

23. Threatening to kill people isn't cool. Hell, they'll TOS ya HERE for that!

We haven't lost any ten million dollar chandeliers here at DU as a consequence of that kind of thing, but a few dim bulbs have gotten the boot from our esteemed establishment for just such behavior!

Olbermann allegedly threatened -- in a fit of likely hyperbole -- to kill certain employees, one of whom identified problems with Michael Moore's appearance on the show and another of whom leaked a photo of the "Countdown" set to the press.

I guess the non-disclosure and non-disparagement portions of the contract were the least of his problems...!

[Mira]

27. Such a fine observation of creating reasons to complain.

You made me laugh out loud.

[wordpix]

37. I employ people and if someone smashed a glass mug in our workplace

I would definitely be questioning their mental balance or lack of it. This along with other signs like not coming to work are definitely grounds for dismissal.

Of course, if KO was truly sick for 2 months straight, that is another story but it still doesn't explain smashing glass in a workplace.

[tabatha]

4. Olbermann is going to lose one more time.

He is a fool for even considering suing.

[polichick]

6. Seems like Keith could use a good therapist - hope he gets one.

[Botany]

7. Keith was told that he was to do election night coverage for super tuesday and if

not he would be in breach of his contract w/ current TV but he still refused
to work that night. I was a big fan of Keith's but he really does need some
help and some time away from the cameras.

[RKP5637]

18. Agree!!! KO definitely needs a bit of help IMO!!! n/t

[freshwest]

31. Yes, that really hurt Current's credibility for reporting. I expect things went bad after that.

[a kennedy]

9. Yah, this is going to get ugly.

Sad really. They both needed each other....where else is Keith going to go?? and where will Current get someone of Keith's expertise...although with reading this counter suit...... It's just sad. I'm sure Billo is having a blast with this too. Ugh.

[frylock]

14. i can't imagine people are lining up to hire a guy who is suing his former employer..

dude leaves a wake of burned bridges.

[davidwparker]

16. I would like to see Randi take the spot. n/t

[Ian David]

19. Sure, Randi is much more stable.

[mucifer]

22. LOL!

[MADem]

24. Spitzer has it, so I thought. nt

[davidwparker]

30. For now, yes. But, he didn't make it on CNN and really needs to go back into politics. Randi

should take Spitzer's place when there is an opening. Hopefully, really soon.

[MADem]

40. No, no, no!

Spitzer cut his teeth at CNN--he got some very good tv training. He just wasn't a good fit with them (they want to own every time slot and that is how they program), but he worked out all the (forgive the expression) kinks and he's good with a camera now.

He does NOT need to go back into politics. He would not succeed. He cannot recover from screwing high end teen aged barely legal prostitutes using cover of government business, violating the Mann Act and doing it with his socks on--he would be a laughingstock of a political candidate.

Randi isn't a good fit for television--her niche is radio. Plus, she's not reliable either. Spitzer may be stupid with his sex life, but he shows up for work. He also the ability to deconstruct an issue without getting personally outraged and losing his focus. That sort of demeanor and one-step-ahead thinking is useful when interviewing.

[RKP5637]

26. Yep, it will be used against the liberal/progressive cause. And as

you said, "I'm sure Billo is having a blast with this too. Ugh."

[MADem]

42. Billo needs to watch his falafels. He's only a perverted phone call away from renewed ridicule.

He'd be well advised to press on smartly and not give this too much play, because it could bite him in the ass.

[Lil Missy]

11. Dude needs to get a grip; get over himself.

He is self-destructing rapidly.

[chiffon]

13. I really liked Olbermann when he was on MSNBC and did not see him on Current TV, but

this thing looks like a mud fight.

[alp227]

21. Now, his wasted career is decomposing into enabling the right.

[MADem]

25. Fortunately, CURRENT is still in the "GROW" stage.

They aren't big enough pickings for the right to bother with quite yet. The right still sees MSNBC as the "contra" to their Faux.

Hopefully, by the time their roots are deep, this will be an irritating and unimportant memory.

[Fool Count]

34. That countersuit is a joke. If Current TV were concerned about Olbermann's absences

a proper course of action would have been to warn him about it verbally first, then do it in
writing with dismissal clearly stated in this written warning as a consequence should he
fail to react. Without this trail of evidence no court would take the absences as reason for
dismissal seriously. As to the smashed glass mug, this is just so lame. Broken mug? Are
you kidding me? Is that all they've got?

[onenote]

36. How exactly do you know no warnings were given?

I'm curious as to whether you even bothered to read the cross-complaint before you posted that it was a joke.
In case you haven't, here's a link:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Festival_Dailies/Cross-Complaint%20Copy1%5B4.6.12%5D.pdf

I'm sure based on your extensive legal training, you know that its not necessary to attach all of the evidentiary support to a complaint. It is enough to allege facts in the complaint and support them at trial. There are allegations in the complaint that Olbermann was warned on several occasions that he was in breach of his contractual obligations to Current TV and it is extremely likely that there is an extensive record of emails and other correspondence (as well as internal memoranda documenting verbal communications) that, should this case go to trial, will be introduced.

[Fool Count]

38. Having read that complaint, the very first paragraph of it (point 1. of The Nature of Action

section) immediately reveals how desperate and groundless it is. They try to present Olbermann's
appearance on Letterman, where he told the host that his termination was "my fault" and that
"I screwed up", as some sort of admission of guilt on his part. Could any statement be more
taken out of context? Anyone with any grain of common sense and even rudimentary logical
abilities would be ashamed to appear to draw such conclusion from that segment. But not Current
TV and its lawyers. A broken mug? Seriously? If they had a written warning and a documented
record of absences from work without proper excuse, that would be an open-and-shut case and
they wouldn't need that laughable broken mug. Anyhow, we will know soon enough, so there is
little point in speculating.

[onenote]

44. Are you an experienced attorney?

I'm guessing you're not, because if you were, you'd instantly recognize the initial paragraphs of both Olbermann's complaint and Current TV's cross complaint as examples of posturing that is fairly common in these kind of high profile employment/entertainment industry lawsuits. When Olbermann's attorney used the first paragraph of his complaint against Current to declare "Al Gore, Joel Hyatt and the management of Current are no more than dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives" they weren't making an argument that they intended to back up in court. They were scene-setting. And that's what the lawyers for Current were doing when they threw Olbermann's words back at him in the first paragraph of Current's cross-complaint.

FWIW, I've worked on a couple of cases over the years with the lead attorney for Current, Jay Cohen, and he's got a pretty impressive track record.

[Fool Count]

45. You are guessing right. I am not an attorney at all. In fact, I have not been inside

a courtroom once in my whole life. I just thought that there must be at least some logic
and common sense operating there too. But I guess not when $50 million is at stake.

[MADem]

41. They had non-disclosure/non-disparagement clauses in their contracts.

The one doing all the disparaging was Olbermann. They've got him, I think.

I also don't happen to think workplace abuse is funny at all. When superiors are smashing mugs in anger, there's more going on.

There are too many "bosses" who act like assholes and get away with it because the employees who work for them need their job.

I was in a supermarket last week and saw a well-fed "manager" dressing down a female worker for wearing a hoodie on the store floor. She was working in the freezer and restocking, and he was giving her shit to beat the band, even though the hood of the hoodie was underneath her supermart smock. He was a chubby older thing with a red face, and she was young and lovely. Five minutes later, I saw a guy in a hoodie (with the hood UP, no less) putting out steaks. The manager walked by him and didn't say a word.

Tell me that the girl wasn't being abused? For whatever reason?

Yeah, I reported it to their corporate HQ and no, I will never shop there again. I don't go for employee abuse, and I find it especially egregious when management feels free to do it in front of the customers.

[jzodda]

39. This whole thing is bad for both

Bad for KO and terrible for Current who may lose Time Warner next quarter if they can't keep the ratings they had with KO at 8pm. Spitzer did 47,000 in his timeslot the other day and if that continues Current is going to be off one of the largest operators in the nation.

Shame.....

[WeekendWarrior]

46. I remember, during the 2008 election coverage

Keith and Rachel and Tweetie, etc., were doing the live thing and they came back from a commercial a few seconds early and Keith was reaming out someone standing off camera and looking quite pissy about it. I remember thinking at that moment, "I sure as hell would never want to work with THAT guy."

And I like Keith.

[jeanmarc]

48. Bite me, Keith.

I can't feel sorry for this blowhard.

I share many of his views, but he's going to get a nice settlement and he didn't like working where he did. How this helps the country I have no idea.

Current TV actually has pretty good programming. Exactly why should Olbermann be entitled to 50 million dollars for doing nothing?

Eat a turd in hell, Keith.