Clear Channel’s lawsuits against Tribune Company over employee poaching have all been settled. According to Clear Channel, Tribune has agreed not to further solicit or hire Clear Channel employees who are subject to contracts, in violation of those contracts. Clear Channel had obtained a temporary restraining order in May blocking Andrew Friedman from going to work at Tribune, claiming that Tribune had induced him to breach his contract.
“We are pleased to have reached a settlement with Tribune and our former employees. Clear Channel values its employees very highly, and we will continue to enforce our rights against any competitor who attempts to interfere with those contractual relationships,” said Andy Levin, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Clear Channel in a statement.
"We did nothing wrong here and paid nothing to settle these lawsuits. We have never tortiously interfered with the contracts of Clear Channel employees and we won’t in the future," said a statement that Tribune sent to RBR/TVBR.
Carolyn Gilbert, former President of Clear Channel’s Critical Mass Media research company, confirmed to RBR/TVBR that the settlement also included the lawsuit she had filed against Clear Channel. So, she is now free to work at Tribune with her old boss from Jacor/Clear Channel, Randy Michaels. “I’m very, very happy to be in a place where I can look forward and I can work,” Gilbert said.
