This morning, Dan Rather’s appeal in his lawsuit against CBS was denied by the New York Court of Appeals, effectively ending the process for Rather and his attorney in their case against his former employer.
In September, the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division threw out Rather’s $70 million dollar breach-of-contract suit. At the time, his attorney, Martin Gold, told TVNewser, “We believe the decision is incorrect on a number of grounds and, accordingly, we intend to ask the New York Court of Appeals to review it.”
The brief decision, which can be found at the New York Court of Appeals website, reads:
| Mo. No. 2009-1196 Dan Rather, Appellant, v. CBS Corporation, et al., Respondents. |
Motion for leave to appeal denied with one hundred dollars costs and necessary reproduction disbursements. |
A CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “We’re pleased by the result.”
More: In a recent Media Beat interview, Rather tells TVNewser’s Gail Shister that he spent over 2 million dollars on the lawsuit.
Update: Rather has released this statement through the law firm that has been representing him:
Naturally I am disappointed in today’s ruling because we know it is a grave miscarriage of justice. Most of all I am disappointed that no court or jury studied the evidence and heard the actual facts of the case. The case was dismissed on purely technical grounds. My mission continues to be working to ensure that the media can gather and report news unfettered by the influence of government and major corporate interests.
Dan Rather
“We will let Dan have the last word on his lawsuit,” said a spokesperson for the network.