The very public fight Birmingham sports talker Paul Finebaum is having with his employer (which technically is Cumulus now) is moving back to state court. Yesterday a judge granted Finebaum?s motion to send the case back to state court which is where Finebaum's suit was initially filed. It's also widely believed Finebaum has a better chance to win in state court. The judge wrote "Citadel had failed to show the matter in dispute exceeded $75,000." $75K is the threshold for cases to move to the feds.
According to the Birmingham Business Journal, the judge also denied a motion to dismiss a similar suit that Finebaum?s attorneys had attempted to squelch in state court before its removal to federal court, writing that Finebaum?s legal team had failed to effect the dismissal before its removal. The ruling means Finebaum effectively has two lawsuits pending against his employer ? one in state court and one in federal court. However, Coogler noted in his opinion that the federal court would also remand the remaining case back to state court if the plaintiff adds claims made in the other suit.
Finebaum is suing Citadel, alleging they violated his employment contract by agreeing to federal bankruptcy reorganization without his prior consent. He also alleges that he was coerced into signing an unfavorable employment contract when Citadel officials threatened to pull his show from the air if he refused and that Citadel officials worked fraudulently to suppress his pay. The company has denied the claims.
Great coverage on the story by Birmingham Business Journal reporter Evan Belanger
Read the entire Business Journal piece HERE
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