Monday, December 12, 2005
BACKGROUND: Fired Sinclair reporter Lieberman files suit
ORIGINAL URL:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.sinclair09dec09,1,4830232.story
Originally published December 9, 2005
TV reporter files lawsuit against Sinclair over his dismissal
Leiberman alleged bias in Kerry documentary
By Nick Madigan
Baltimore Sun reporter
A television reporter who was sued in October by Sinclair Broadcast Group
after he accused it of political bias fired back yesterday with a
countersuit.
Jonathan S. Leiberman, Washington bureau chief for the Hunt Valley-based
company until his dismissal in October 2004, said in his lawsuit that he
was wrongfully discharged and that he did not breach his contract by
speaking publicly about a disagreement with his bosses, as the company had
claimed. Reached yesterday by telephone, Leiberman confirmed the lawsuit's
filing. He is seeking $79,166, the amount he would have earned if he had
served out his two-year contract, and an unspecified amount in unpaid
benefits.
Leiberman had objected to Sinclair's plans to pre-empt normal programming
at its 62 television stations less than two weeks before the 2004
presidential election to air "an extremely one-sided and negative"
documentary about Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee,
"tricked out as news," his lawsuit said. Leiberman said such a label was
misleading.
When Sinclair's plan became known, the company "attempted to quiet the
furor by turning to Mr. Leiberman and demanding that he confer legitimacy
upon the program by participating in its presentation," the lawsuit said.
Leiberman refused. He was fired after he told The Sun that the anti-Kerry
documentary was "biased political propaganda."
Sinclair's suit against Leiberman said he broke company rules by speaking
publicly about internal matters, and that he "divulged confidential and
proprietary" information.
The company said Leiberman, now a producer at America's Most Wanted, owes
Sinclair almost $17,000 in so-called liquidated damages, equal to a
percentage of his salary had he worked until his contract expired.
A company representative could not be reached for comment.
In his countersuit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court in Towson,
Leiberman said none of his comments "disclosed anything remotely
proprietary or confidential."
In fact, the suit said, "Sinclair's decision to terminate Mr. Leiberman
was retaliation, pure and simple, for his public stand that Sinclair's
plans were inconsistent with journalistic ethics."
The company's position was upheld by the Maryland Department of Labor,
which found that Leiberman had violated provisions of his contract that
prohibited speaking to the press without permission about internal company
matters.
After being fired, Leiberman briefly worked for a Baltimore radio station,
which Sinclair quickly threatened with legal action on the basis that
Leiberman was violating a noncompete provision in his contract. That claim
was incorporated in Sinclair's lawsuit.
In his countersuit, Leiberman said the claim was invalid because Sinclair
did not own stations in Baltimore or Washington.
nick.madigan@baltsun.com
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