Thursday, September 20, 2007
"A nicely buffed and polished piece of garbage"
Beldar carpet bombs Dan Rather's complaint against CBS News (for its treatment of him following the famous "Killian memos" story on 60 Minutes) and humiliates Rather's lawyers, the New York office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, in the process.
But put aside the fact that his lawyers have apparently bought into Rather's paranoid schizophrenia on the facts. Let me tell you in a single paragraph why "garbage" is about the nicest term that can be applied to this pleading.
Rather's lawyers allege a claim for breach of contract based on an oral understanding for a contract extension that, by their own admission, was never consummated and never reduced to writing. They ignore what I'm quite sure will be a devastating waiver/estoppel counter-argument by CBS that Rather kept cashing his paychecks and conspicuously acquiesced in his demotion until his actual written contract finally expired and he left the network. They allege that CBS was Rather's "fiduciary" — and I'm sorry, but that's so badly wrong as a matter of law that every one of the Sonnenschien lawyers whose name appears on this complaint ought to be sanctioned for making it (because when it comes to negotiating extensions of your employment contract, your employer is not your fiduciary but your adversary). Their tort claims against the CBS execs in their individual capacity don't even attempt to allege facts to show that they were acting outside their corporate employment capacities — making those another set of claims that are, in my judgment, so wrong as a matter of law as to be sanctionable.
Ouch.
If you have a friend at Sonnenschein, email him Beldar's post. Just for fun.
CWCID: Glenn Reynolds.
4 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Sep 20, 07:11:00 AM:
The fact Sonneschein filed it tells us that Dan is paying full freight and not getting this done on a contingency fee. Given how weak and "novel" the claims are, I had naturally assumed Dan had dazzled some lawyer in Texas into taking this on a contingency fee. But Sonneschein isn't working for free, and Dan is paying fees for this. Just one more piece of evidence -- as if we needed it -- that he is nuts and beyond vain.
By 
Beldar, at
Thu Sep 20, 08:30:00 AM:
Tigerhawk, thanks for the link! I ought to note here, though, as I did in my own comments, that I've slightly revised the paragraph you've quoted to reflect that after continuing to accept paychecks for his many appearances on "60 Minutes" after leaving the anchor chair, Rather did leave in something of a huff a few months before the scheduled end of his written contract.
By , at
Thu Sep 20, 09:03:00 AM:
TH, Beldar:
The term "ripping him a new one" comes to mind. How pathetic is our world when some crusty old talking head, who used his bully pulpit for years to editorialize to the American people under the guise of truthfulness in reporting is reduced to a clown whining that he got fired for running with a bad story (that I'd heard he himself had helped craft)?
FWIW, my opinion of "news" extends to all networks and print media. I only give FOX a break because (a) I'm right of center, and (b) they don't deny they have a conservative slant.
Just sayin'
By , at
Thu Sep 20, 02:07:00 PM:
