Ralph Barbieri's lawsuit against Cumulus is proceeding; both he and his lawyer, Angela Alioto, returned to the Bay Area Friday night after a day in Atlanta where Cumulus CEO, Lew Dickey, was deposed.
Barbieri was fired from KNBR in April of 2012 and months later, filed an unlawful termination suit against Cumulus media. The odds of the suit making it all the way through the legal web and to actual court is long and arduous, let alone Barbieri winning, but the Dickey deposition means the ex-KNBR talk vet is serious about pursuing his day in court.
The trial begins Sept. 9th. No talk of settlement on either side.
**Comcast SportsNet's, "Chronicle Live" is no more: come Monday, the sports cable show becomes "Yahoo Sports Live." My gut tells me Yahoo offered a sizable chunk of cash to sponsor the local sports chat show and the Chronicle balked. Just a hunch.
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That show needed something. Jim "the bowtie" Korzimor as host is no Papa. Not even close. Bowtie's shameless ownership shilling gets old fast.
ReplyDeleteChronicle writers are a bit too chummy. What a shame with their age and know all...they played it down. Ostler would get in a good pointed observation..but always had to say it as a wry joke. He could never just come out and say it. And I give him points for even trying that way.
The best things said,must have been said in the green room from what I infer by the jokes on air. Ann Killion is old school conservative on air,her off air side would be cable suited. And its a cable show,right?
Other then Marc Spears,I'm not expecting the show to get much better. I have listened to Yahoo weekend sports,and its terrible.
It always helps in a lawsuit that all you hated have been fired by the time you get to court-that will be brought up. But,Ralph must know he's going to hear about every morsel of why he was fired.
You're spot on. Kozimor is the biggest slurper in Bay Area media. Nauseating.
DeleteLIPSTICK ON A PIG...
ReplyDeleteI very much admire Barbieri. Having faced a similar situation some years back with one of the nation's major non-profits, I got increasingly worn down with the fight--especially after almost a year with no job. I ended up just caving to get a settlement and some closure. This disappointed my supporters, but I just had to move on. I still sort of kick myself sometimes for not following the good fight all the way to the end.
ReplyDelete"Every morsel of why he was fired..." Oh, he's going to have to fight outright LIES and absolute fiction. It is very very hard to go up against Goliath.
Doing what Barbieri is doing takes a pair and then some. The opposition will go totally wolverine and it is surprising and shocking and hurtful! You GO, Ralph--stick with it. I hope you win.
At the end Barbieri was no longer able to perform his job plain and simple.
DeleteCumulus/KNBR may have some outstanding small residual financial obligations to him under the terms of his final contract BUT his contract was about to lapse. In general high-end radio talent (in the absence of rare explicit contractual obligations to the contrary) are not entitled to employment for life.
Realistically, the best he can hope for is a couple of bucks for the balance of his final contract which he probably could have negotiated for privately if he wasn't such a big buffoon. Those of you hoping that he'll win the lottery and receive a windfall from Cumulus are going to be disappointed.
Employees who are unfairly terminated because of medical conditions or age discrimination deserve everything they can get. Ralph on the other hand is lucky he lasted as long as he did in a business where people are routinely canned when they can't cut the mustard.
Good riddance Ralph.
All Ralph is
Same here..same. Fight the good fight is for schoolbooks.
DeleteWin Ralph, win.
ReplyDeleteRalph's self righteous act is ridiculous. How many people get to keep their jobs if they consistently show up late, balk at the idea of preparing and generally don't try that hard?
ReplyDeleteWait, that mostly describes uncle gary.
Good observation 11:33am.
DeleteAnyone rooting for Ralph is a person who doesn't know Ralph. Straight up asshole. I don't know the Dickeys, nor do I approve of how they manage their San Francisco cluster of stations, but Ralph is no prize. Of course he's fighting this. What else does he have to do with his life?!?
ReplyDeleteThey won't settle AND he'll lose.
The Q will crush Barbieri and send a message to Future fires.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dickey? I thought he owned Cumulus? He,and his brother. Whats that story?
ReplyDeleteRalph is a pompous, self serving ass. He lost all credibility, IMHO, when he ripped Barry Bonds publicly while he was a Pirate and then kissed his tail when the Giants acquired him. When you look in the dictionary under the word "phony", there is a picture of Ralph. I hope he loses his ample shirt.
ReplyDeleteWait,that's mostly Radnich too.
DeleteRalph lost his fast ball.a long time ago, but his ego kept on growing.
ReplyDeleteVery few people seem to understand who you are dealing with here. Ralph Barbieri is (1) Italian, (2) a Scorpio and (3) rich- Not a good combination if you are on the receiving end of that person's wrath. I could be wrong, but I get the funny feeling Ralph will drain his bank account (and it is a sizable one) to prove he is right and Lew Dickey & Co. are wrong.
ReplyDeleteRalph isn't rich by any stretch of the imagination and your Scorpio nonsense and offensive Italian stereotyping are worthless.
DeleteThe poster above made my point precisely. I will never forget how often Ralph Barbiari would call Barry Lamar Bonds a "Punk" during his playing days at Pittsburg but once he put on that Orange and Black uniform, Bonds became Ralph's best friend.
ReplyDeleteBy definition a two faced phony.
Ralph deal with life.
Employment at KNBR was not meant to last a life time.
I would like to see Raddy and Fitz on the stand. People dismiss Angela and her firm but she can be tough.
ReplyDeleteRaddy and Fitz on the stand? Why? For which side?
DeleteYou have no idea what you're talking about.
Correct me if I am wrong but Ralph was under contract. They relieved him of his duties and payed him through his contract. What is so "Wrongful" about that? He is more an Independent Contractor than an employee. I don't believe Cumulus must coach and develop or go through the disciplinary steps to terminate a person under contract. Therefore Ralph has no case.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing of the specifics of Ralph Barbieri's lawsuit. You should know, however, that even in a contractual situation, you can't fire someone because they fit into a "protected" class . What's a protected class? To simplify it for use here, it can and does include gender, age, religion, race. As a plaintiff, proving that you were let go because of your age, gender, race, religion, even if you and others think that was the case, is a very, very difficult thing to do.
DeleteFor example, your co-workers might know a specific bit of information that helps your side of a lawsuit, but will they risk losing their own jobs to divulge some fact or other?
In addition, no smart employer generates or keeps records such as emails which indicate discriminatory(unlawful) intent in personnel matters.
No matter who wins should be an interesting case to see what comes out in court.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it couild not be aired on tv.
With yahoo taking over does that now mean that no more chronicle staff on air for that show like ratto etc.
Article in SFgate said Chronicle staff will continue to appear on the Yahoo sports show on Comcast.
DeleteRalph deserves his day in court. and it sure sounds like he has a case.for those who have a hard on for Ralph, get a life. if it was your ass being fired, you sure as f__k would want to defend yourself in court.
ReplyDeleteGet em RALPH. Miss you on the air. you are missed by most people who listened.KNBR pretty much sucks now. not only because you are not there, but because of what the ownership is doing to the station. same thing happened to KGO. But worse. good luck Razor.
done.
Ralph MISSED by most people who listened to KNBR? You have got to be kidding me!! KNBR had no sports talk competition in the Bay Area. That is why he lasted so long. He was tolerated, at best. Get a life? How about getting a rational thought?
Delete"if it was your ass being fired, you sure as f__k would want to defend yourself in court."
ReplyDeleteHuh? You mean anyone who's ever been fired should take their case to court? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
The courts are for employees who have been the victims of illegal discrimination, not for lazy blowhards who skip work, show up late and unprepared and do a lousy job when they're there.
Just because Cumulus sucks doesn't mean EVERYTHING they do is wrong. Firing Ralph was one of the best things they ever did.
Exactly 11:52am.
ReplyDeleteWhen you own the airwaves in terms of competition, why be worried?
Ralph also did as he pleased because he had his best friend for a boss. Tony Salvatore.
Salvatore feather bedded his favorites, such as Ralph Barbieri and Gary Radnich.
But that has changed with Cumulus in charge.
New ballgame guys.
He won't be the first former employee to eat humble pie, as you discover the business can get along quite well without you. The world has not stopped turning...What was that old song from Skeeter? "Don't they know it's the end of the world?!"
ReplyDeleteAll you Ralph haters. Why you kissing up to Cumulus? Think they care about you? In an industry of vagabonds and carpetbaggers, Ralph grew up here, was KNBR, and was a true fan. The parade of fill-ins is laughable. KNBR content is shallow and superficial without him. The bosses in Atlanta don't care, but Bay Area people should.
ReplyDeleteYou can hate Ralph, or at least the on-air Ralph and not kiss up to Cumulus. Did you listen? All he did for quite some time before leaving was bitch, complain and interrupt. He had been checked-out and phoning it in for a long time and should have been fired much sooner. He basically dared them, and they took the dare and put him where he belongs. He wasn't fired due to the illness, age or whatever. He was fired because he was stinking up the place.
DeleteCumulus is likely the worst radio company to ever exist, but that doesn't mean I think Ralph is right. I wish he was, but he isn't.
DeleteYahoo Sports and NBC Sports entered into a partnership. NBC is owned by Comcast. Hence the Comcast show becomes the Yahoo show.
ReplyDeleteI missed the first 15-20 minutes of the new Yahoo! at 5. But since then,Korzimor has been shameless. Sure,Papa would say that same things told to say...but DIFFERENT. Bowtie man is scarily too happy to oblige. You all know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI do see that new faces will be guests. Change might be good. The old show went stale over two years ago after a fast start.
Example: Korzimor shakes Larry Baer's hand and calls him "My friend". Baer's honest answer? No answer. Just blinked.
DeleteRead the complaint. Not a fan of Ralph, but if what this complaint says is true...Cumulus has some 'splaining to do.
ReplyDeletehttp://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2012/06/barbieri-versus-knbrcumulus-case-that.html
Ralph has a snow ball's chance in Hell to win this case.
ReplyDeleteIt won't even be close.
He will regret he ever stepped into the ring with Cumulus.
Read 42-> It's a stretch for Ralph. One man's perspective. Surely Cumulus has emails and countless people in the building who tell the story differently. Plus, since Ralph is actually sick, his memory will be called into questions as well.
ReplyDeleteJust because HE THINKS he can show up at 3:00 (or later, like he often did after the show went on the air) doesn't mean he can show up at 3:00. Job called for 2:30, according to Ralph.
The station felt 95.7 was a threat, and probably asked Ralph to change his ways after years of having no competition. After years of doing things one way/his way. Then they probably directed him to do otherwise, and he couldn't and wouldn't change. That's almost a guarantee. Regardless of what he thinks of his ratings.
He'll lose.
Don't care for the Dickeys much, but Ralph will lose.
Ralph should pursue any lawsuit against a band of loons that would hire Smurf and Mook to anchor the mornings. Just awful.
ReplyDeleteBeen out of the Bay Area for 3 years and just now heard that Barbieri had been canned. All I can say is what took so long? That guy was rarely entertaining and extremely annoying with all his pompous pretences. A real self-righteous blowhard. More importantly--he just wasn't good.
ReplyDeleteSay what you want about Radnich, the man is a master of his craft. The only reason to listen to the Razor and Mr. T show was Tom Tolbert. I will admit that Tolbert's reality check against Barbieri's utopianism occasionally produced something akin to entertainment, but the laughs were few and far between. Mostly Ralph was just an annoying whiner. I still remember when the guy from the Giants (was it Brian Sabean?) sounded like he wanted to strangle that crybaby right on the air. Yeesh. Ralph just seemed like a miserable person and listening to his show was depressing.