* Counter-suit charges failure to promote network
* Failure to develop programming also charged
* Olbermann ‘willfully’ failed to show up, it says
LOS ANGELES, April 6 (Reuters) – Current TV on Friday
counter-sued former host Keith Olbermann, claiming he failed to
perform his duties for the progressive television network and
saying it does not owe him “a dime” of the millions Olbermann
claims he is owed.
Current and Olbermann, who hosted his program “Countdown” on
the network, have been locked in a war of words and legal
filings since last week, when Current fired the commentator
claiming he had breached his contract.
The liberal firebrand sued the network on Thursday seeking
as much as $70 million he says he is owed for compensation and
an equity stake he was given in the fledgling network.
Current is run by its founder Joel Hyatt and former U.S.
Vice President Al Gore.
In his suit, Olbermann launched a scathing attack on Hyatt
and Gore, saying the network was plagued with problems and
comparing it to “an unprofessional cable-access show.”
In its counter-suit filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior
Court, Current attorneys fired back, claiming Olbermann
“willfully” failed to show up for work and did not help create
new programming or promote the network as he’d agreed to do when
taking the job roughly a year ago.
“Current seeks a determination that it is no longer
obligated to pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann who, having already
been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly
failing to keep his end of the bargain, now seeks to be paid
tens of millions more for not working at all,” the network’s
attorneys wrote in their suit.
Among the key allegations Current cites is that Olbermann
took unauthorized vacation time – the network said he worked
only 19 of 41 business days in January and February – and
refused to work on Current’s U.S. presidential caucus and
primary election coverage as he was asked to do.
Current claims it first notified Olbermann he was in breach
of contract back in October of 2011, but problems persisted.
Olbermann joined Current in February 2011 after quitting his
top-rated program on MSNBC, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” a
month earlier for reasons that have never been disclosed.
He was appointed chief news officer at Current, took an
equity stake in the channel that was originally launched in
2005, and became its biggest celebrity draw.
But his nightly show attracted only an average 177,000
viewers – a fraction of the audience who watched him on MSNBC.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; editing by Todd Eastham)
