Rather's Lawsuit Against CBS Mostly Tossed Out

Dan Rather will have to find some other way to salvage his reputation, because his lawsuit against CBS isn't going to do the trick. The judge presiding over the case, Justice Ira Gammerman, is dismissing most of the suit, reports TV Newser.

Not surprisingly, the part of the suit the judge didn't dismiss is Rather's claim that CBS violated his contract by not giving him enough airtime on 60 Minutes after pushing him out of the anchor chair. In other words, the non-crazy-conspiracy-theory part.

I called Rather's attorney's office -- Martin Gold of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal -- for more details, but it doesn't seem like they have any. "We have no information," I was told. (Update: Gold tells Huffpo that, despite Gammerman's action, the "entire essence" of Rather's suit survives. Obviously, both sides are spinning, but facts are facts: Rather won't get to sue his former antagonists as individuals, and he won't get CBS declared guilty of fraud.)

UPDATE: Here's CBS's statement:

April 10, 2008 JUDGE DISMISSES MAJORITY OF DAN RATHER'S CLAIMS IN HIS LAWSUIT AGAINST CBS Justice Ira Gammerman of the Supreme Court of the State of New York today dismissed the majority of claims filed by Dan Rather in his September 2007 lawsuit against CBS and other defendants. CBS issued the following statement in response to the judge's decision: "We are gratified that the court has dismissed the vast majority of Mr. Rather's claims, including the spurious claims against Mr. Redstone, Mr. Moonves and Mr. Heyward, as well as the false charges of fraud, tortuous interference with prospective business relations, breach of good faith and fair dealing. With respect to the few remaining claims, relevant to his contract, there are no facts to support them, and we expect them to be dismissed when the discovery process is complete." * * *