Posted on 09/19/2007 12:30:52 PM PDT by abb
Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors.
Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed Guard broadcast and, in the process, “seriously damaged his reputation.” As plaintiffs, the suit names CBS and its chief executive, Leslie Moonves; Viacom and its chief executive, Sumner Redstone; and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.
In the suit, filed this afternoon in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Rather charges that CBS and its executives made him “a scapegoat” in an attempt “to pacify the White House,” though the formal complaint presents virtually no direct evidence to that effect. To buttress this claim, Mr. Rather quotes the executive who oversaw his regular segment on CBS Radio, telling Mr. Rather in November 2004 that he was losing that slot, effective immediately, because of “pressure from ‘the right wing.’ ”
He also continues to take vehement issue with the appointment by CBS of Richard Thornburgh, an attorney general in the administration of the elder President Bush, as one of the two outside panelists given the job of reviewing how the disputed broadcast had been prepared.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If this silly case would work out like the dry cleaner that had to close over a 54m suit it would be GRAND. CBS would have to close and Rather would lose. Dream on
Good one. Might as well bump the thread here.
Rather Litigation Communications, Sonnenschein Nath &
Rosenthal LLP
Audrey Young, 1-888-248-4960
I scrolled this thread to see IncPen’s classic. Thanks Diana.
FR commentary at its finest BUMP!
BRILLIANT COMMENT BUMP!
I hope he wins everylast penny of it and then the lawyers steal it (good Dem lawyers) and then give him a bill for another 10 mill. And then the IRS serves notice that it wants its cut from the 70 mill.
The LA Times’ take on the story, fwiw.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-ex-rather20sep20,0,6465400.story?coll=la-home-center
From the Los Angeles Times
Dan Rather files $70-million lawsuit against CBS
By Matea Gold
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:26 PM PDT, September 19, 2007
Longtime CBS anchor Dan Rather filed a $70-million lawsuit today against his former employer, alleging that executives at the broadcast network broke the terms of his contract by marginalizing him in his final days at CBS News and forcing him to retire early.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court this afternoon, comes as a startling postscript to the saga that dominated the news division three years ago, when a political furor erupted over a piece Rather anchored about President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard, later found to be based on unsubstantiated documents.
In the wake of the controversy, a producer was fired and three executives were forced to resign. Six months later, Rather stepped down from the anchor chair of “CBS Evening News,” a year shy of his 25th anniversary in the job.
His lawsuit, first reported on the New York Times website, claims that CBS and its former parent company, Viacom, violated the terms of his contract and sought to tarnish his reputation and restrict his abilities to seek work in order to contain the political fallout from the story. The complaint names CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward as defendants.
snip
Hey, Dan: Good night and good luck.
A court fight among liberals? My day is made.
See what happens when you put lib garbage, maggot, scumbag, slime, filth like Dan Rather in power positions. They end up suing you. Guess what! You had it coming for putting them in in the first place.
See what happens when you put lib garbage, maggot, scumbag, slime, filth like Dan Rather in power positions. They end up suing you. Guess what! You had it coming for putting them in in the first place.
“seriously damaged his reputation”
70 cents is more like it.
Big mega-firm. High quality, but not the best. In a way I’m a bit surprized they took the case.
Another area I would not want to go if I was Dan.
Back in the days of steam powered TV, Dan was anchoring (if memory serves) at KHOU (?) in Houston. Some horse got stuck in high water because of an approaching hurricane, so Dan (this is all from waaay back memories) got on horse to ride it to safety.
Some thought it was heroic. Others thought it was a very stupid PR stunt.
We shall see.......
I love that cartoon! Thanks for posting it!
po’ danny boy!
So, Dan;
It only took you 15 months to find a scumbag lawyer willing to take on your “suit”.
Geez, I hope that you didn’t have to wallow amongst the roadkill to finally get representation.!
That's how things work in today's political environment. Wait a year and start reinventing yourself (with the help of the liberal establishment an MSM, who have an agenda to be maintained). Witness the Clintons, etc.
If Dan wins- or CBS caves-
Dan will give a big chunk to the Demonrat party-
That will solidify his daughter (who works for the Demons)
I hope Dan ends up like:
“a slow armadillo on a fast Texas highway”
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