Randi Rhodes, CACI Defamation Lawsuit

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

Suit Against Rhodes To Proceed







Like a bad penny that just keeps turning up, a defense contractor's now- ancient lawsuit against Air America talk host Randi Rhodes has somehow come back from the dead, forcing the motor- mouthed talker to take a nasty trip down memory lane.

With Air America in bankruptcy, however, what would be the point of pushing CACI's defamation suit against Rhodes?

The answer is simple: any settlement or judgement against Air America would be covered by an insurance policy.

At the same time, where is CACI headed with this litigation that it couldn't get to in the past? In the last round, it was dismissed outright by a federal judge. In order to have a shot at what could be a relatively small settlement, it's hard to imagine the point of further legal bills.

From the AP (thanks to the tipsters who emailed us on this one):

Court Allows Suit Against Air America


WASHINGTON — Government contractor CACI International Inc. has won bankruptcy court approval to proceed with its defamation lawsuit against liberal talk radio network Air America and one of its hosts, Randi Rhodes.

A federal bankruptcy court in New York ruled Thursday that the case could proceed despite the fact that Air America has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Under federal law, legal proceedings against a company are frozen when the company declares bankruptcy.

CACI International asked the bankruptcy court in November to allow its case to go forward, arguing that its claims against Air America are covered by an insurance policy and any damages would be paid out of that policy and not from the company's assets.

The company sued Air America and its parent company, Piquant LLC, as well as Rhodes in the fall of 2005 for defamation. The suit stemmed from comments Rhodes made Aug. 25-26, 2005 on her radio show. According to CACI's complaint, she accused CACI employees of raping and murdering Iraqi civilians at Abu Ghraib prison, claims that CACI said were "false and defamatory."

CACI is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. A phone call to Air America seeking comment was not immediately returned.

A U.S. District Court dismissed the case, but CACI appealed that ruling. The bankruptcy court's decision allows the appeal to proceed.

Arlington, Va.-based CACI is an information technology consulting firm and gets most of its revenue from government contracts. A CACI subsidiary company provided civilian interrogators to the U.S. military in Iraq, the company acknowledged in its complaint.

NewsBusters has their take here.

Meanwhile, on the Rhodes front, she has nearly disappeared from view since the company's bankruptcy, beyond the talk show itself. Her long- term fate is unclear: if she leaves Air America, it's not clear that other syndicators would be interested in her, given her track record.


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