Lizz Winstead-Air America Suit Proceeds

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

While Air America Suit Heats Up, New MSNBC Deal Emerges




Monday's heavily-publicized Connie Chung-Maury Povich MSNBC talk show announcement immediately brought a few questions to mind:


--- Maury still has a TV show? Who knew?

--- How was Connie Chung nearly forgotten in just two years off the air?

--- Was Don Imus right when he made this comment (via New York Post):

Yesterday, reacting to news that Aaron Brown had left CNN and been replaced by Anderson Cooper, the I-Man said, "Which means there will be, very soon, 'The Aaron Brown Report' here on MSNBC, because the MO for MSNBC is [that] anybody at either Fox or CNN who can't get it done, they hire 'em here, thinking I don't know what . . ."

--- And, of course: why does it matter what happens at a network without viewers?


After her stormy departure earlier this year, the real surprise here was seeing former Air America Radio host Lizz Winstead resurface at MSNBC.

Winstead seemed to disappear off the face of the planet in the months after her Air America sacking. Her lawsuit against the liberal radio network's parent company Piquant LLC can be viewed here.

Winstead didn't respond to previous emails and recently removed the address link from her website. In addition, it hasn't been updated since September.

Given just one paragraph in a lengthy New York Times piece on the Chung-Povich pairing, nothing was said about the former Daily Show co-creator's recent past:

The as-yet-untitled, half-hour program - a review of the week's news that will fuse elements of "Meet the Press," the defunct "Crossfire" and "The Daily Show" - will appear on Saturday mornings and be rerun on Sundays. The executive producer is Lizz Winstead, a co-creator of "The Daily Show" who, until earlier this year, was the host of her own program on Air America, the talk radio network.

With investigative partner Michelle Malkin, we've been tracking the status of Lizz Winstead's lawsuit against Air America Radio for several months. From our previous reporting:

On May 20, 2005, comedian Lizz Winstead filed suit in New York, detailing a laundry list of allegations against Air America Radio parent Piquant LLC.

Accusing the company of failing to pay wages, promotional fees, accrued holiday compensation and severance, Winstead is seeking $290,716, plus interest...

...After a bumpy career path, Winstead found major success as co-creator of "The Daily Show With Craig Kilborn", but departed in early 1998, after Kilborn made apparently offensive public remarks about her. Later, she appeared in guest spots on other programs.

It seems clear Winstead was utilized in dual programming and on-air roles at Air America. Published reports from early 2004 listed her in both, here and here. Mediaweek noted she'd been programmer and host, in this blurb regarding her exit.

It's not known what was in her original employment agreement, or for which programming decisions Winstead may have been responsible (other than her own "Unfiltered"). One thing isn't in dispute: on May 24, 2004, she agreed to sign a release supplied by the company.

What exactly it was intended to cover is exceptionally confusing. Winstead believed it to be a release of monetary claims against Progress Media, so Piquant could take it over, without facing demands for unpaid compensation....


....After May 24th, 2004, Winstead believed her previous employment terms remained, with an annual management salary of $250,000, plus options, a potential bonus, profit-sharing, an AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) union-designated scale wage for her on-air duties ($225,000), less $50,000, for reasons not disclosed in her complaint.

While there was recent speculation about a possible settlement, details obtained today by the Radio Equalizer point to a continued legal fistfight.

That earlier, unconfirmed report had the two sides about $60,000 apart on settlement terms. Obviously, that gap wasn't bridged.

New information indicates Air America and Winstead are miles apart and not at all likely to settle out of court. The pre-trial discovery phase has now concluded and depositions soon will be complete, as well.

Winstead has retained Madison Avenue-based Edward Hernstadt of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz to represent her.

For their defense, Piquant LLC (Air America Radio) went outside their usual counsel and hired Park Avenue-based Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP.

With an upcoming courtroom showdown, it's increasingly possible Winstead and Air America will again see this suit generate significant news coverage.

Does this give Air America an advantage in pushing a hardball settlement? MSNBC might not want its name associated with this action. In addition, Chung and Povich might want Winstead's focus on the new show, rather than old business.

Or does it help Winstead? Air America doesn't need further bad publicity related to litigation. And since it's not the kind of suit one would expect to be covered by corporate insurance, any judgment could hit already-depleted corporate coffers.

Would Air America's Rob Glaser (serving a dual role as CEO of RealNetworks) end up covering a Winstead payout? Is Glaser really willing to forever function as the company's cash machine?

So often recently, the company's found itself on the wrong end of threatened or filed legal actions. Several have not yet been brought to public attention.

As a result, one would imagine they'd rather generate headlines for their product, rather than grievances by former staffers, executives, architects and corporations.


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Chung/Povich Photo: New York Times