Don Imus sued for slander

From ABC News...

Kia Vaughn, star center for the Rutgers Women's Basketball team, has filed a lawsuit against Imus for libel, slander and defamation -- the first civil suit to be filed against the former radio host. Vaughn is asking for monetary damages of an unspecified amount.

"This is a lawsuit in order to restore the good name and reputation of my client, Kia Vaughn," said her attorney, Richard Ancowitz, in an exclusive interview with the ABC News Law & Justice Unit.

The suit names Imus individually, but it is also waged against MSNBC, NBC Universal, CBS Radio, CBS Corp., Viacom Inc., Westwood One Radio and Imus producer Bernard McGuirk.

I hope she wins, but in all honesty, I wonder what kind of case she has since no one of reasonable intelligence actually believed Don Imus when he said it. But then there's this...

Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that Imus had reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with former employer CBS over his firing. ABC News has learned that Imus could be back to broadcasting as early as January, and is being courted by major media outlets. That settlement, said Ancowitz, rewards Imus while leaving little justice for the women of the Rutgers basketball team.

If he's benefiting financially from comments that can be construed as demeaning to her, then I don't have a problem with him being forced to pay her and her teammates. I personally handle the matter by never, ever listening to the jerk.

It's interesting, though that in the comments to the article, almost everyone opposes the lawsuit, many because they feel it violates the First Amendment. The First Amendment does not guarantee the right to tell insulting lies about someone. No court has ever upheld that unless it was about Jerry Falwell (then, apparently, the Constitution magically changes)

Posted by Danny Carlton at August 15, 2007 7:22 AM