Rather's CBS Suit on Life Support

Thu., Apr. 10, 2008 1:03 PM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

UPDATE: On July 21, 2009, a judge restored Rather's fraud claim.
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On the bright side, at least Dan Rather wasn't completely dissed in court.

But glass-half-empty types might focus on the big storyline: A New York Judge on Thursday threw out substantial parts of the ex-CBS Evening News anchor's $70 million lawsuit against the Eyeball and parent company Viacom, most notably all elements pertaining to Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, CBS President Leslie Moonves and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward.

In his ruling, Superior Court Justice Ira Gammerman said he didn't buy arguments made by Rather's attorneys that CBS conspired with Bush administration officials to pressure the veteran newsman to step down in the wake of a discredited 2004 story about President Bush's National Guard service.

Gammerman rejected Rather's contention that the network's actions were politically motivated and that it failed to act in good faith and deal fairly with him.

Finally, the judge said that the 76-year-old journalist failed to identify the nature of the business relations he accused CBS of hindering by supposedly doing the White House's bidding.

CBS was quick to trumpet the ruling.

"We are gratified that the court has dismissed the vast majority of Mr. Rather's claims, including the spurious claims against Mr. Redstone, Mr. Moonves and Mr. Heyward, as well as the false charges of fraud, tortuous interference with prospective business relations, breach of good faith and fair dealing," the network said in a statement.

"With respect to the remaining claims, relevant to his contract, there are no facts to support them, and we expect them to be dismissed when the discovery process is complete."

Albeit gutted, Rather still has a case.

The judge left intact Rather's accusations that CBS breached his contract by phasing him out of his anchor seat and limiting his airtime on 60 Minutes II and 60 Minutes.

In the lawsuit, filed last September, Rather said network execs made him a "scapegoat" to mollify Bush officials after the so-called "Memogate," when Rather used what turned out to be bogus documents to question the president's Vietnam-era military service.

With his ruling Thursday, Gammerman also nixed Rather's demand for a massive payout in the form of punitive damages. That means he'll likely be required to cover the court fees Redstone, Moonves and Heyward incurred to defend themselves.

Rather's attorney, Edward Reich, could not be reached for comment.

The journalist currently helms Dan Rather Reports on HDNet, the cable network owned by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.