Dan Rather Lawsuit Against CBS TOSSED In Entirety

By Karen Matthews, AP

NEW YORK — A New York court on Tuesday dismissed Dan Rather's $70 million breach of contract lawsuit against CBS Corp., noting that the network continued to pay the anchor $6 million a year even after he left the evening news broadcast.

Rather sued CBS and its top executives in 2007, claiming he had been removed from his "CBS Evening News" anchor post over a report that examined President George W. Bush's military service.

The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court – New York's trial-level court – said the complaint "must be dismissed in its entirety."

The five-judge panel ruled unanimously that a lower court "erred in declining to dismiss Rather's breach of contract claim against CBS."

The court said there was no breach of contract, because CBS still paid Rather his $6 million annual salary after the disputed 2004 broadcast under the "pay or play" provision of his contract.

Rather's lawyer, Martin Gold, said he was "extremely disappointed" in the decision and would appeal it to the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court.

CBS said in a statement it was pleased with Tuesday's ruling.

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"The lawsuit is now effectively over," CBS said.

The dispute began with a piece Rather narrated for the now-defunct "60 Minutes II," in which he reported that Bush got preferential treatment during his Vietnam War-era service in the Texas Air National Guard.

Rather cited new documents CBS had obtained, but the authenticity of the documents later came under attack.

Rather kept reporting for "60 Minutes" but was dumped by CBS in June 2006 after 44 years with the network.

His 2007 lawsuit claimed fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, as well as breach of contract. A court threw out the fraud claims in September 2008.

CBS said it expects Rather's related lawsuit against CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves and Andrew Heyward, former head of CBS News, to be dismissed, as well.

General counsel Louis Briskman said that action "is technically still pending, but it's hanging by a thread."

Rather, 77, now produces an hourlong news program for cable channel HDNet.

Read the decision below (embedded via DocStoc, document via TVNewser):

Dan Rather Lawsuit Dismissal -

Comments

[NevaforLeadership]

That's great news!

Now it's time for Dan Rather to understand that we are totally and completely responsible for the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

[themainpoint]

Good luck on the appeal.

[hidenout]

The five-judge panel ruled unanimously that a lower court "erred in declining to dismiss Rather's breach of contract claim against CBS."

He'll need it.....

[dadw5boys]

What did you expect Bush placed 100's of FAR RIGHT WING JUDGES in LIFETIME seats on the appeals courts.

[hidenout]

What did we expect? For the law to be followed. And it was obviously followed in this case.

[OtayPanky]

Let's assume the story was true.

Rather, Mapes and the team were handling this hot potato in an election year. And these folks don't have the luxury of swiftboaters. They represent one of the primo news sources (supposedly) in the country.

To break this story without having all their ducks in a row is journalistic malpractice - just as much as (say) Judy Miller's. That's what killed his career at CBS.

Hating Bushco, and what they did to our country, is not an excuse for cloudy thinking. Just put the shoe on the other foot, and imagine that (say) Katie Couric had broken a story about Obama cheating his way through Harvard during the last election, based on a document that turned out to be a forgery. She would have been shitcanned, too.

These network anchors get paid an amazing amount of money - and their job is to actually be the managing editors of their news desk. They're not just teleprompter readers. If they go with a critical and possibly history-changing story without doing due diligence, they're toast.

I really HOPE they find definitive and indisputable proof of BushCo malfeasance - both as a young man and as a president. And I wish Rather had done his job properly. But just because someone's on "my side", that doesn't mean they get a pass when they screw up utterly.

[foxisms]

So this falls under the sub-title that, you'll never win when you take on the media moguls. Did the courts even bother to validate Rather's story on whether or not Bush was given preferential treatment during his Vietnam War-era service in the Texas Air National Guard? Or was the money all that mattered? The bigger debate (and more frightening for CBS) was why he was released and whether or not the story that got him fired was true and factual to begin with... provided anyone was interested in the pursuit of justice. If this was the case, the money is secondary and payment could have been dismissed. But a truth and a blatant unfairness and cover up could have been none the less exposed and revealed. The press,including (and especially) the major networks were bound and gagged when it came to questioning the Bush administration. But I see this did not concern the court very much. It's all "show me the money!"

[Northern-View]

Its a sad day when we must rely on one lone guy to take on the media's determination to "modify" the news for the power elite. Thank God he was paid as well as he was or he would never have been able to afford the battle (and I guess still may not be able to take it all the way to the finish line). I pray this gets heard in the appellate court because the truth of the matter needs to be heard. This issue needs to be settled properly one way or the other. I myself believe that it will be the powerful media that ends up with egg on its face but I'm willing to wait for the verdict on that. Only then, will the media have to confront the gruesome truth of its wholesale rot and capitulation. Why do you think so many of us are searching for our news from the internet? That's why we are all here (and on other sites) isn't it? We no longer believe the BS dished out by the corporate media (the true name of the main stream media). And I'm not just talking Fox News here. Everyone with an unclouded brain knows they are the National Enquirer / Jerry Springer of the airwaves. We should be calling the media "The Ministry of Truth" these days (as described in Orwell's 1984).

[countfloyd]

This is about money. The fraud piece was dropped before this ruling.

Mr Rather's last broadcast for the CBS Evening News was 9 Mar 2005. (People had stopped watching in droves long ago) The story involving the papers was reported on 8 Sep 2004.

The lawsuit is based on Mr Rather's assertion that CBS "warehoused" him until 2006 and wouldn't let him report on big news stories on 60 minutes. Rather wants compensation for the 15 months he could have worked elsewhere even though CBS continued to pay him as stipulated in the contract. The court ruled against Mr Rather.

There is no proof Mr Rather was dismissed due to the story about GWB. None.

[Schoolgirl666]

The truth shall set you free......­everything was expunged except his teeth cleaning.....

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher152.html

[ignorantwillyharper]

Enjoyed the report from Bill Gallagher. Worth reading for everyone!

[GodsCOMMENT]

CNN didn't FIRE THE LEGENDARY larry king after he went NATIVE WITH THE JACKSONS THIS SUMMER, or WOLF BLIZTER for failing to investigate how the JACKSON CIRCUS FUNERAL
STOLE CNN TIME WARNER AIR WORLD WIDE FOR 3 HOURS. CBS SHOULD HAVE
LET dan the man stay on because he would have not GONE NATIVE or IGNORED THE TIME WARNER GREAT AIR ROBBERY OF 2009. RATHER WAS A BETTER JOURNALIST
THAN KING OR BLIZTER......and deserves his 10 dollars a minute retirement allocation....

[GodsCOMMENT]

6 million a year

is about

10 DOLLARS A MINUTE 24/7/365

THIS MEANS DAN MAKES 10 DOLLARS A MINUTE in the toilet and when sleeping.

holy smokes i am going to go into journalism. excuse me.

[kickatthedarkness]

Who was your source for this report, Mr. Rather? FBI? Port Authority Police?

Did you ever follow-up? Aren't you curious?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/movers-and-shakers/

[blueskybigstar]

This ruling is an abomination in the face of justice.

[dems08]

You can get Dan's show, Dan Rather Reports - if you have dish, direct, and some cable companies (charter, comcast, etc.)

http://www.hd.net/danrather.html

[dems08]

The American public knows the truth, Dan.

Good luck with your appeal!

[stargazer13]

NOT SO FAST CBS

Here,s hoping Rather win,s his appeal !!