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Richard Connor claims wrongful dismissal in lawsuit against Fort Worth Star-Telegram; says he wants to buy the paper
FORMER FORT WORTH StarTelegram president and publisher Richard L. Connor claims in two lawsuits that he was fired without cause from the paper last November - four months before the paper announced his departure on Valentine's Day.
In the lawsuits filed in federal and Texas courts, Connor blames the dismissal on colleagues at the Star-Telegram and executives of the paper's corporate parents, Capital Cities/ABC and the Walt Disney Co.
"With premeditated forethought and outright malice, Connor's immediate supervisor (Phil Meek, senior vice president of ABC and president of ABC's publishing group) and his cohorts . . . individually and in concert with each other have systematically tarnished Connor's reputation, states the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Wichita Falls.
"A stellar 29-year career, 23 years with Capital Cities, suddenly became a torrent of rumors, innuendos, things left unsaid and outright lies. Connor was, for the first time ever, accused of poor management, excessive attention to profits, ineffective leadership and a lack of foresight," the suit adds.
Named as defendants in the federal lawsuit are Meek; the Walt Disney Co.; Capital Cities/ABC Inc.; and ABC President Robert A. Iger.
In the federal lawsuit, Connor is seeking damages for fraud, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with contract and injust termination of an implied contract.
In a shot at Disney's top management, Connor's lawsuits say the damages he is seeking "do not exceed the severance package paid to (recently resigned Disney president) Michael Ovitz after his unsuccessful year reportedly at least $90 million:'
Spokesmen for those named in both lawsuits refused to comment on the suits, citing compay policy.
As he was filing that lawsuit - and an almost identical suit filed in Tarrant County (Texas) District Court against the StarTelegram itself and three of its top executives - Connor was also preparing a bid to buy the Star-Telegram. In January, Disney announced it was selling the newspapers that came with its 1995 purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc.
Connor told his former paper that he was working with one unnamed partner to make an offer for the Star-Telegram.
"I have...