Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 20, 1993 TAG: 9304200181
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Now Knighton, 37, who has been a morning on-the-air personality at WRIQ at Fairlawn since his hearing on April 13, 1992, is looking at leaving his job a second time.
The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that the noncompetition agreement he signed is valid and enforceable. It remanded the case to Pulaski County for a decree banning Knighton from violating the agreement.
Knighton said Monday he will seek a re-hearing before the Supreme Court and hoped the decree would not be signed until that is resolved.
"I'm going to fight to the end," he said. "I just want to work, to get on with my life, and to do what God put me on this Earth for, which is to run my mouth."
He said the Supreme Court did not hear evidence of what he believed was coercion to sign the agreement because the agreement was thrown out without it being heard. He hoped the court would hear it now.
The latest ruling means Knighton must leave his job at WRIQ for 10 1/2 months.
The agreement, signed when he was fired, was that Knighton would not work at any competing station within 60 miles of WPSK for 12 months.
Knighton signed the agreement Feb. 12, 1992, when he was fired by WPSK station manager Mike Gummer. He claimed that Gummer pressured him into signing without a thorough study of the document, knowing he needed child-support money for his two children in Atlanta, Ga.
Knighton said Gummer had told him about 1 1/2 months earlier that he was going to be dismissed and to look for a new position. Knighton said he had been unable to find one outside the 60-mile radius of WPSK.
But he found one six weeks later at rival WRIQ.
The New River Media Group, which owns WPSK, said it was holding Knighton to the agreement. It obtained an injunction, which kept him from working at WRIQ for six weeks and filed a $25,000 damages suit against him.
Knighton countersued for $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, although he lost only $1,800 in wages for the period of the injunction. He said the notoriety of the suit hampered his career and job search.
At the hearing a little more than a year ago, Circuit Judge A. Dow Owens threw out the agreement as ambiguous and vague. A jury then deliberated for 20 minutes and awarded Knighton $15,000, which also was eliminated by the Supreme Court decision.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on the appeal Feb. 22 and issued its decision Friday. It had not been delivered to the parties Monday, but WPSK attorney Marc Long got a copy by fax.
Long said Monday that he hoped to get the necessary order drafted and to Owens within a few days.
"These people had a valid agreement and the Supreme Court realized that," he said. "It was what I asked for and, quite frankly, I was very pleased that I got what I wanted."
Byron Shankman, Knighton's attorney, noted that Owens threw out the agreement on a motion to strike the plaintiff's evidence. Knighton's side has not had an opportunity to present its side.
"I've got to read that decision before I say much," he said.
Gary Hearl, managing director for New River Media Group, said his side had been confident throughout the controversy that the agreement had been a fair and reasonable one. He said he was glad to see that the Supreme Court viewed it that way and hoped the issue was resolved after more than a year.
by CNB