Likely there is some kind of morality or behavioral clause in Ant's contract, in which case he's kinda fucked. Of course it depends on the language of said clause, but I imagine a corporation with more lawyers than talent would cover their ass. By this I mean it wouldn't matter that Ant's comments happened outside the context of the show. Ant could fight it, but Sirius would have a pretty cut and dry argument that his comments harmed the public perception of the company and by extension their financial bottom line by alienating advertisers, subscriptions, talent, ect. In this case Ant would likely forfeit the remaining value of his contract and any litigation to try and retrieve it would be extremely difficult/expensive for him.
If no such language was written into the contract, they would have to pay Anthony the remaining value of his contract. In this case, Ant wouldn't have any grounds to sue. Sirius would be effectively buying out his contract (think sports) which is totally legal.
If Ant is lucky, Sirius wants this out of the news ASAP. This means no lawsuit, no further drama between them and Ant. They buyout the remainder of his contract and the two sides and their association forever.
TL;DR: Ant basically has no leverage over SIRIUSXM. He wont/can't sue.
Not that i know any more than the next asshole but i would think that a legal argument could be made that since sxm allowed anthony to make similar and arguably worse comments on the air they in a way condoned this by paying him for saying it at work. By paying him to say it i would think that any termination clause could be argued null and void on these grounds. In realiy i doubt there is going to be any legal action though because anthony didnt seem like he expected to be at sxm past october anyways and id imagine sxm will probably pay him the remainder of the contract but make him sign that he will not sue. They just want this over with asap and i feel this is the most likely outcome. If for some reason sxm wont buyout his contract i would expect anthony to not go down without a fight but i dont see that as a likely outcome.
I see where you're coming from, but that would more likely be brought up in a defense of Anthony if Sirius were suing him. Also it's somewhat irrelevant because an employer can terminate a contract whenever they want. Ant can't sue to get his job back regardless, and he can't sue for lost wages if they just pay out what's left on his contract. He just doesn't really have a case for anything. Moreover, Ant made the comments. Any rational judge/jury, regardless of the race issue, is going to view the situation from the POV that he created a reason for sirius to fire him. Legally speaking, sirius hasn't done anything wrong.
Sirius would have a much better case against Anthony if they could prove his actions caused the company financial hardship. That's where things could get scary. That said, I don't think they would do that because it would mean their brand shares the headlines with 'racist shock jock anthony cumia' for much longer, which is the last thing those fuckheads want right now.
After WNEW when the got paid millions upon millions after being fired... I am sure Sirius couldn't possibly be dumb enough to not have some termination rule on the contract.
28 comments
14 PanzerSmanzer 2014-07-06
Sue everyone.
6 Openy 2014-07-06
I was assaulted by some animal savage cunt and my shoes fell off. Kitten took my glasses
2 LizardKingRumsfeld 2014-07-06
Hehehe I'm sure gonna miss youse guise
1 hhhehehe_BOT 2014-07-06
http://i.imgur.com/kGARb0e.jpg
5 ol_dantucker 2014-07-06
Likely there is some kind of morality or behavioral clause in Ant's contract, in which case he's kinda fucked. Of course it depends on the language of said clause, but I imagine a corporation with more lawyers than talent would cover their ass. By this I mean it wouldn't matter that Ant's comments happened outside the context of the show. Ant could fight it, but Sirius would have a pretty cut and dry argument that his comments harmed the public perception of the company and by extension their financial bottom line by alienating advertisers, subscriptions, talent, ect. In this case Ant would likely forfeit the remaining value of his contract and any litigation to try and retrieve it would be extremely difficult/expensive for him.
If no such language was written into the contract, they would have to pay Anthony the remaining value of his contract. In this case, Ant wouldn't have any grounds to sue. Sirius would be effectively buying out his contract (think sports) which is totally legal.
If Ant is lucky, Sirius wants this out of the news ASAP. This means no lawsuit, no further drama between them and Ant. They buyout the remainder of his contract and the two sides and their association forever.
TL;DR: Ant basically has no leverage over SIRIUSXM. He wont/can't sue.
1 [deleted] 2014-07-06
Yeah and even if there's no clause, they could just claim indecent conduct and say that he should've run his tweets by management first. Fuck Sirius.
0 craigbud82 2014-07-06
Not that i know any more than the next asshole but i would think that a legal argument could be made that since sxm allowed anthony to make similar and arguably worse comments on the air they in a way condoned this by paying him for saying it at work. By paying him to say it i would think that any termination clause could be argued null and void on these grounds. In realiy i doubt there is going to be any legal action though because anthony didnt seem like he expected to be at sxm past october anyways and id imagine sxm will probably pay him the remainder of the contract but make him sign that he will not sue. They just want this over with asap and i feel this is the most likely outcome. If for some reason sxm wont buyout his contract i would expect anthony to not go down without a fight but i dont see that as a likely outcome.
1 ol_dantucker 2014-07-06
I see where you're coming from, but that would more likely be brought up in a defense of Anthony if Sirius were suing him. Also it's somewhat irrelevant because an employer can terminate a contract whenever they want. Ant can't sue to get his job back regardless, and he can't sue for lost wages if they just pay out what's left on his contract. He just doesn't really have a case for anything. Moreover, Ant made the comments. Any rational judge/jury, regardless of the race issue, is going to view the situation from the POV that he created a reason for sirius to fire him. Legally speaking, sirius hasn't done anything wrong.
Sirius would have a much better case against Anthony if they could prove his actions caused the company financial hardship. That's where things could get scary. That said, I don't think they would do that because it would mean their brand shares the headlines with 'racist shock jock anthony cumia' for much longer, which is the last thing those fuckheads want right now.
2 RobMFurious 2014-07-06
After WNEW when the got paid millions upon millions after being fired... I am sure Sirius couldn't possibly be dumb enough to not have some termination rule on the contract.
0 LizardKingRumsfeld 2014-07-06
Not so fast... SXM has proven to be supremely dumb on countless occasions.
2 account9211 2014-07-06
ah yes, the classic legal precedent set by that famous case "sticks and stones v. words".
2 LizardKingRumsfeld 2014-07-06
If I remember correctly, words were acquitted of all wrongdoings.
2 account9211 2014-07-06
NO. WORDS RAPED ME.
1 GypsyDishwasher 2014-07-06
This made me laugh harder than it should have.
2 Higher_Primate 2014-07-06
Depends on the details of his contract
2 Unshavenhelga 2014-07-06
He could sue. It would cost thousands and thousands, and he likely would not prevail.
1 bushwater 2014-07-06
Would he actually take the time?
1 datmohtingting 2014-07-06
No.
1 kentrel 2014-07-06
For entertainment reasons I kind of hope he doesn't, because then he won't be allowed talk about it for years until the case is settled.
0 janedoe2893 2014-07-06
He still gets paid. Long vacation for him. No reason to sue.
3 LizardKingRumsfeld 2014-07-06
And the Worst Armchair Lawyer Of The Subreddit Award goes to.... JANEDOES2893! Congratulations!
5 janedoe2893 2014-07-06
I'm going to list that in the awards section of my Linkedin.
-2 gsbird1065 2014-07-06
No. My guess is that there's a clause in his contract covering termination upon just such an occurrence as this.
2 rumpumpumpum 2014-07-06
Why am I not surprised that that is your guess?
-1 gsbird1065 2014-07-06
Is it not a reasonable guess?
1 rumpumpumpum 2014-07-06
It's as reasonable as any other guess.
0 LizardKingRumsfeld 2014-07-06
But that guess is yours.
0 FuckSirius 2014-07-06
Mmm. Is it reasonable?