Can Malloy Sue? If He Signed A Two Year Contract Last Week

[orleans]

then aar broke the contract.

if he sues, maybe they'll let him back on the air because it would be cheaper than buying him out.

anyone know a good lawyer?

[JackBeck]

1. Thet were told that the contract was "on the way".

(updated message from Mike's website)

MIKE MALLOY FIRED BY AIR AMERICA RADIO

There will be no Mike Malloy program today - or any day - on Air America Radio as we have been terminated. We are told its a financial decision.

We are as shocked as you are, especially since as recently as last Tuesday we were told we had the go-ahead to announce our return to NY airwaves and that our contract was "on the way."

We are told its a financial decision.

More details to follow as we hear them ourselves.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

7. The decision was "financial"

the same way that all deaths may be attributed to "heart failure."

All the rumors about Sam Seder getting the axe? Turns out they were right about the axe and wrong about the neck.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. I'm sure if that's true, the AAR lawyers covered the bases

Then again, it IS Air America.

[onenote]

3. did he sign a contract? what did the contract say?

Jumping to a lot of assumptions. First, has anyone found a link that confirms that Malloy and AAR actually agreed to a renewal? Second, does anyone have any idea what the contract says? It might give AAR the right to terminate at will, for cause or no cause. No one here has any idea. I do find it noteworthy that the statement from the Malloy side about this didn't mention breach of contract.

[ikojo]

6. Would Mike Malloy be considered to be employed

in New York (which I assume has more worker friendly laws) or employed in Georgia (which I assume is not so worker friendly, given that it's in the south)? In MO, it's an employee at will state which means you can be let go at any time for any reason.

THIS SUCKS!

[shadowknows69]

11. New York is bad

hopefully that will change some with Mr. Spitzer at the helm but we are definitely "employee at will" too. I suspect Mike at least had some kind of golden parachute if he did sign a contract but you never know. Radio is a harsh, competetive business that doesn't always reward the most talented. I took my first full time radio job at embarrassingly low wages because I knew it may be my only shot. I got my local 15 minutes of fame with it and that was cool for me. If Mike was as good as I suspect he'll find a good home on the air eventually.

[ikojo]

4. That SUCKS!!

Mike Malloy is my favorite Air America host! He pulls no punches and is not wishy washy like Al Franken.

When it comes time for me to renew my premium account that will not happen. Of course I'll have to find new podcasts to listen to at work.

[LTR]

5. If he signed the contract...

...then AAR pays him to sit around the house until it expires. Often there's a no-compete, meaning that he wouldn't be able to work for an AAR rival.

That's usually the way these things work.

[ikojo]

8. But he could stream a show, couldn't he?

[tridim]

9. Ding ding ding.. Maybe.

Two years severance pay to stay off the air. If that comes to fruition we can assume AAR management has been infiltrated by the bad guys.

[orleans]

10. (i didn't know tjhere was an aar rival) n/t

[LTR]

12. Any network could be considered an AAR rival

But the word I'm hearing is that Malloy never signed a new contract. So I guess that would more or less free him to do whatever.

If some other company wanted to start up a rival liberal talk network (which I could easily see, since AAR's business affairs are a bit troubling sometimes), then they could sign him. Though I think a potential rival would probably be a bit more corporate, so they could tell Malloy to relax a little.