Contract specifically says that Imus is to say shocking and provoking things an Imus had a claus that he could not be fired over "negative press"

He is sueing for 40 million dollars and many people believe he will at least get a settlement of 20 million.

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 pay day, writes Fortune's Tim Arango.
By Tim Arango, Fortune writer
May 2 2007: 8:21 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.


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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 a source who has read the contract.

The language, according to the 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, the source predicted.

A CBS spokesman declined comment, and Imus, through his attorney, also declined an interview.

Bo Dietl, a private investigator and author who is a long-time Imus confidante and was a regular guest on the show, has been making the rounds of the cable talk shows defending his friend and had this to say to Fortune: "I just heard that there is a contract in place, and that he can't be fired without a warning."

Will Imus put a dent in CBS' stock?
Imus has hired Martin Garbus, a New York-based attorney at the law firm Davis & Gilbert who is widely recognized as one of the country's most able First Amendment lawyers. Time Magazine, for one, has called him "legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country." He's successfully represented the comedian Lenny Bruce against criminal charges on First Amendment grounds, and the writer Robert Sam Anson in a lawsuit filed by Walt Disney trying to halt the publication of a book critical of the media giant.

But in Imus' case, his free speech rights are tempered by the fact that he said what he said on the public airwaves - which are subject to Federal Communications Commission regulations about what is appropriate content.

"[Garbus is] a First Amendment lawyer who's argued many important cases," said Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lynne Bernabei, who has often represented plaintiffs in employment disputes. "I'm sure they're trying to make this a First Amendment case. But the airwaves are heavily regulated by the FCC.

"In my mind there is a big difference between someone who is under contract and is under FCC regulations and someone who speaks out in town hall. This is someone in a heavily regulated industry and who used the public airwaves."

Bernabei also said that any contract stipulations that allow for provocative content on Imus' show are probably balanced by "something in the contract about appropriate content."

She said, "I'm sure CBS has something about conduct - that he can't use profanity and has to abide by FCC regulations."

So under this argument, the case could turn on whether Imus' comments - which referred to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" - meets the definition of profanity under FCC guidelines. The FCC, on its Web site, defines profanity as "including language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance."

In some people's minds, CBS (Charts, Fortune 500) would have a slam dunk in making that case. Then there would be the matter of whether or not Imus ever quietly received warnings for previous offensive racial remarks. And there were several, including once referring to the New York Times African-American sports columnist Bill Rhoden as a "quota hire" and PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is black, as a "cleaning lady."

Meanwhile, Imus plans to retreat to his ranch in New Mexico for the summer before deciding whether to make another go of it on the radio. Many have speculated he could wind up in the unregulated world of satellite radio, but Dietl, his close friend, thinks he'll be back on terrestrial radio. "He's going to take off the summer, but I think he'll be back and stronger than ever," he said.

Story Highlights• NEW: Fired radio host hires one of nation's top trial lawyers
• NEW: Attorney says he plans to file suit against CBS
• NEW: $40 million pact stipulated that Imus be "controversial"
From Ed Payne
CNN
Adjust font size:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former radio talk show host Don Imus has hired one of the country's top trial lawyers to sue CBS Radio following his dismissal last month for making racial and sexual on-air comments about members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Attorney Martin Garbus told CNN Wednesday that he has agreed to represent Imus in a wrongful breach of contract suit against his former employer.

Garbus would not disclose when he was retained by Imus but said he plans to file an action against CBS in the near future. Calls made to Imus by CNN were not returned.

A CBS spokesman declined comment.

Imus had $40 million remaining on a multiyear contact that began in 2006 and included a clause that CBS wanted him to be "irreverent" and "controversial," according to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was shown part of the contract.

"Company (CBS Radio) acknowledges that Artist's (Imus') services to be rendered hereunder are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character and that programs of the same general type and nature containing these components are desired by Company and are consistent with Company rules and policies."

Toobin said the legal issues in the Imus case are simple: "Did Imus breach his contract by saying what he did about the Rutgers basketball team?"

CBS dismissed Imus on April 12, eight days after he called the Rutgers players "nappy-headed 'hos" on his radio show, "Imus in the Morning."

"What stands out in the contract is he is supposed to be controversial and irreverent. That's what his statement about the Rutgers basketball team was," Toobin said.

"How is CBS going to argue that what he said was so controversial and so offensive that it isn't what they asked for in the contract?"

Personally I hope he wins for the simple fact that he undoubtably got screwed.

I really believe that there was far more to his being fired than him making a "derogative" remark about black women, (a remark that they hear almost daily from almost every rap guy in the business). For some reason I think they he had a lot of envious caucasian rivals that wanted to see him fall from grace no matter what it took. He slipped up and left himself open, and they jumped all over it by making a HUGE issue over a minor remark, and thus got him canned. :(

I hope he wins this lawsuit... I really do!

I hope he wins too. He got screwed more because of the fact that he was apologetic about the affair, rather than that he made some insensitive/controversial comments (which is apparently encouraged in his contract from the article I read).

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/05/03/imus.cbs/index.html

Personally I hope he wins for the simple fact that he undoubtably got screwed.

I really believe that there was far more to his being fired than him making a "derogative" remark about black women, (a remark that they hear almost daily from almost every rap guy in the business). For some reason I think they he had a lot of envious caucasian rivals that wanted to see him fall from grace no matter what it took. He slipped up and left himself open, and they jumped all over it by making a HUGE issue over a minor remark, and thus got him canned. :(

I hope he wins this lawsuit... I really do!

agreed He was mean to provoke people because it brought in the ratings. He says sexist things all the time on the airwaves and nothing was done about it and Al Sharpten and the pit bulls of the NCAAP tried to make it out to be mainly sexist slur and not so much racist and that is the cause of IMUS firing. When in actually NCAAP was threatning sponsers with nationwide boycotts. They tried to put that it was racist in the background but I didn't see any feminist asking for IMUS's job only African Americans or extorting sponsors.

He will get a settlement I think. He will get at least some of his money and they say if ABC settles he will be allowed back on the air. He does not want to go satalitte he want back on his own stomping grounds.

What he said is wrong but he apologized and was sincere. I don't like the guy but there are at least 10 shock jocks out there that do the exact same thing on a daily basis pushing the envelope insulting people all the time. It is easy to cross the line when people keep letting you push the envelope over and over again.

I'm guessing he gets a settlement a couple of years from now, after everyone has forgotten about him. I don't think he will be back on the air for CBS, but someone else will probably hire him. I also predict that I won't be listening to him, because I don't enjoy that sort of entertainment, but others undoubtedly will.

He totally got screwed. No way should CBS have fired him.