Modified On May 2, 2007
Drudge is linking to a Fortune piece by Tim Arango that says Don Imus is gearing up for a lawsuit that could be filed within a month and that hinges on language in his contract that stipulates that he was owed one warning before being fired.
Leading Imus’ team will be Martin Garbus…
…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.”
Stay tuned.