It seems Birmingham, Alabama, is never short on radio drama. From the city that brought you the radio-fueled first burning of Beatles records comes a new discrimination lawsuit -- this one from former Market Manager Bill Thomas who is suing over his termination...Thomas claims bosses violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when they fired him just six days after he disclosed having congestive heart failure. He also claims he had never once been criticized or counseled regarding the quality of his work. He's looking for back pay and other damages.
I highlighted the part of the article that caught my eye. It may not have been illegal (I don't know the intracacies of the law), but it was certainly heartless...no pun intended.
There really aren't many businesses in the world that don't have stories like this anymore, but even my friends who work on Wall Street or in Washington concede that radio still takes the cake when it comes to shockingly brutal firing stories.
Just ask Dick Biondi, who I ran into last night (he looks great, by the way--he's an ageless wonder). He's also been fired more than twenty times in his radio career.
