Imus won't go quietly

[jefferson_dem]

Source: Fortune

Imus won't go quietly

The talk show host has hired a top First Amendment lawyer, and an unusual clause in his contract could give him a $40 million payday, writes Fortune's Tim Arango.
By Tim Arango, Fortune writer

May 2 2007: 11:27 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host whose racial remarks engendered a media storm that triggered a swift upending of his career, is not going away quietly even if the imbroglio has all but disappeared from the national conversation in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.

For Imus, who made a career out of operating in the murky space between sophomoric humor and high-brow political talk, there is the little matter of about $40 million left on his contract with CBS Radio - whose boss Les Moonves fired the shock jock on April 12. CBS' lawyers contend Imus was fired for cause and not owed the rest of the money.

But Imus has hired one of the nation's premiere First Amendment attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted, according to one person who has read the contract.

The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10 million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color jokes. The source described it as a "dog has one- bite clause." A lawsuit could be filed within a month, this person predicted.

<SNIP>

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/01/news/newsmakers/pluggedin_arango_imus.fortune/index.htm?

[durablend]

1. "First amendment lawyer"

LOL

Idiot still doesn't get it through his head that the 1st amendment doesn't protect you from being fired.

[atreides1]

4. But the wording of a contract does!

"It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color jokes."

So, it'll be up to a jury to decide, and it will even be more interesting if the FCC decides to enter into the picture.

[hlthe2b]

6. Surely given his many previous episodes...

Someone must have given him at least a general warning...:shrug:

[Xithras]

9. That's the problem.

CBS hired him to be controversial, so these sorts of episodes wouldn't have been seen negatively in the past.

[ryanmuegge]

15. Exactly. That's what the guy does for a living. It's literally part of his job description..

apparently.

I still don't see why Imus was fired on a legal or moral level. The real reason they fired Imus was because of the sponsors' pullout. Clearly, what he said was wrong and very cruel given the target of the remark. That said, the guy's hired to do something, he does it, and then they want to fire him all of the sudden?

[itcfish]

20. The Main Reason He Was Fired

was because he ranted everyday against Boosh, the War and most of the Neo Cons. Imus has been a shock jock forever and has said many stupid things, but his biggest sin is being against Boosh. It is a shame we silenced another anti boosh pundit.

[FredScuttle]

27. "silenced another anti-Bush pundit"

yeah, one who thinks it's funny to hurl racist, sexist slurs at college students. Thanks, but I can do without the likes of him on my team.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. He also cheered on Rick Santorum

and promoted other rw causes.

He wasn't fired because he railed against bush. He was fired because he is a racist pig.

[NashVegas]

34. Is Because CBS Wants Ownership Rules Relaxed

And sees the writing on the wall with a Democratic Congress that looks down on racist comments.

Don't think it's so? Look up the interesting history with Warner Bros records, Interscope, and the DMCA.

[wellstone dem]

17. But he just entered into a new contract so I presume the

contract covered warnings after the contract was signed, which was only a few months before he was fired.

[Robbien]

2. I am surprised

Suing a broadcaster is not a way to get another job in broadcasting. I fully expected another station to immediately snatch Imus up.

Guess not.

[Xithras]

7. With a 40 million dollar payday, he may not be worried about re-employment.

The guy is already quite wealthy, and with a 40 million dollar payout could go the rest of his life without working another day.

[medeak]

3. what was Bernie on Olberman's worst for?

two days ago? Just caught the end...was wondering what that idiot was up to now.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Sponsors were bailing on him. He can't fight the laws of the free market. nt

[indypaul]

8. It protects ones right to

free speech but not against stupidity. Enough of the interpretation of free speech as
"Free for me, but not for thee."

[skooooo]

11. How does taking away someone's microphone...

...support free speech?

[Bridget Burke]

14. It wasn't "his" microphone. The equipment belongs to CBS.

Imus is free to say anything, at any time. If he wants to buy a microphone, I'm sure he can afford it.

There's often a semi-crazed guy "preaching" on a corner in Downtown Houston. He isn't hurting anyone. (Or maybe there are a couple of semi-crazy guys who take turns.)

However, I wouldn't recommend that Imus preach THAT gospel downtown!

[Xithras]

10. CBS will lose.

They should just hand over the $40 million and save their lawyers fees.

I was listening to a discussion about this on my way to work this morning, and the DJ made an excellent point. Imus was hired and paid the big bucks specifically BECAUSE he was a high profile, controversial figure who had a habit of saying shocking things (which brought in the listeners, the ratings, and the ad revenue). He was fired, essentially, for doing exactly what CBS hired him to do. His "mistake" was that he chose the wrong target at the wrong time and it became a national issue.

The Dog Has One Bite clause is pretty plain. Short of actually breaking the law, CBS was contractually obligated to give him a warning before terminating him. To win the lawsuit, CBS would have to prove that Imus' remarks were so egregious that it warranted overturning his contract. Imus' lawyer, on the other hand, simply needs to demonstrate that Imus has said similar and WORSE things in the past, without challenge from CBS, to undermine their argument. As the DJ's pointed out this morning, Imus has said far worse in his career without any warnings from CBS, so they effectively have NO grounds to argue that his actions warranted overturning his contract. Imus will get his 40 million dollars.

As one of the talking heads also pointed out, even in cases where the jury DOES find that a firing was warranted, they typically order a partial payment anyway. The odds of CBS walking away without paying anything are essentially nil.

Imus is a prick, but he was CBS's prick and they violated their own agreement and standards when they fired him. They can't win.

[skooooo]

12. I've heard others make this point...

Imus was doing what he was paid to do.

[Kolesar]

13. What the heck kind of clause is that to have in a contract?

A clause to address the borderline of what is and what is not "appropriate" to say on the air (?).

[Xithras]

16. Pretty much.

He was hired to say controversial things, and wanted a way to define the "line".

CBS had plenty of contractually appropriate ways to deal with him. They could have announced that his contract wouldn't be renewed when it expired. They could have moved him to a 3AM time slot. Heck, they could have changed the format of his show. Those things would have been acceptable under the terms of his contract. Instead, they chose to fire him, which was a contract violation. According to past legal precedent, they will now have to pay him whatever amount remained on the contract...which was apparently $40 million bucks.

[Kolesar]

21. That network had several days to figure out how to deal with "the Imus problem"

...and they somehow did not get their lawyers to illuminate this liability. I have mixed feelings about this one. CBS Radio owns my favorite radio station in town. They play everything alternative.

[bmbmd]

18. I say give him his job back.

Move his studio to Harlem. Schedule him from two a.m. 'til four.

[Xithras]

19. They COULD have, but it's too late.

They've already broken the contract, and there's very little they can do about it at this point.

[Demit]

22. It doesn't strike me that his lawyer's job is 'simple'. He can argue that other things

that Imus has said were worse, or similar, but he can't "demonstrate" that they were because the judgment whether they are or not is a subjective one. The lawyer might argue persuasively, and a jury might be persuaded, but I wouldn't call that a 'simple' task. The lawyer for the other side could probably conjure up some persuasive arguments for why Imus' slurs on specific young women who are not in public life were far more egregious than saying shocking things about public figures, who have an expectation that they are fair game for crude shock jocks and their adolescent radio shows.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. "Nappy headed ho"

Was that in his contract? Was there a clause that gave him the okay to say that?

[wellstone dem]

31. No, but there was a clause that required a warning

and he had not had a warning since this contract was signed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. A public outcry is not considered a warning?

[UTUSN]

24. His political talk was "high brow" compared to his "sophomoric humor"?

His "political talk" consisted of "i LIKE so-&-so" and "i DON'T like so-&-so." It consisted of: I'm picking this one because he's going to win and I want to be on the winning side. Or, in the case of Shrub: (in 2000) I'm picking him because he's a gold mine for (comedic) material. Towards the end he was admitting he hadn't really read some of the books he was pushing.

So does his pusuing a court case mean he is retracting his apology and will justify his behavior?

[shaniqua6392]

25. He deserves to get his money.

They should just pay up and shut up. They should not have fired him for doing what they asked him to do in the contract. They should have forced him to restructure his radio show after his apology, let him run out the rest of his contract and then not renew him. He has a good legal case against CBS and they will end up having to pay.

[porque no]

26. What's the significance of your

user name? Just curious, shaniqua6392.

[shaniqua6392]

28. My real name is Sheryl

but my sister has always called me Shaniqua. So it just kind of stuck between the two of us. Lately she started calling me Shaquaqua though! I don't know what is up with that. She is just the best step sister in the whole world and I always use it as my screen name in her honor. 63 is the year I was born and 92 is the birth year of my precious youngest daughter.

[krkaufman]

29. In traditional journalistic fashion, CNN provides a broad analysis ...

... and neglects to mention anything regarding Imus' contract with MSNBC. Was a similar clause included in his MSNBC contract?

[wellstone dem]

30. CBS had the contract with MSNBC, Imus did not have a contract

with MSNBC, his contract was with CBS.

[krkaufman]

36. Thanks for the info.

[jollyreaper2112]

35. oh noes!

[billbuckhead]

37. I'm so over Imus, he told a despicable LIE about those young women

He's lucky he doesn't get the living crap beat out of him for calling some family's treasured young woman a whore.

There's a huge difference between free speech and lying.

[Screwfly]

38. Shackin' my haed

It blows me away so many people think anyone in field of sports is above the law and beyond social reproach.

[UNCLE_Rico]

39. Ummm...non-sequitor much?

The way it looks to me, some folks here in this thread are simply debating the merits of the man's legal case, I don't see anybody suggesting he's above the law (irrelevant to the issue, actually, as no law was broken), nor that he's beyond social reproach.

Matter of fact, I doubt anyone at DU thinks nor would ever remotely suggest what you just said. They certainly wouldn't suggest it's true re: Imus, nor about anyone else for that matter.

And Imus is certainly in no way shape or form part of the 'field of sports', soooooo...

Did you post to the wrong thread accidentally, by chance?

[Orsino]

40. He already left quietly. n/t