IN Radio: Cumulus Loses Non-Compete Suit

Amanda Rollen

The owners of an East Central Indiana radio station have failed in a bid to remove one of their former on-air personalities from another station’s broadcasts.

Cumulus Radio Corp. – which owns New Castle radio station WMDH 102.5 FM, branding as NASH-FM – in March filed suit against Amanda Rollen and Hoosier AM/FM LLC, which operates several stations in Marion and Kokomo.

In the lawsuit, Cumulus Radio attorneys claimed Rollen had violated a “non-competition” clause – in a December 2012 contract – that prohibited her from engaging in “essentially the same job” for any radio station within 50 miles of NASH-FM for six months after leaving the New Castle station.

The suit said Rollen left her job as an on-air personality and programming assistant at NASH-FM on Oct. 2, and began work for the Hoosier AM/FM stations on Oct. 20.

In a ruling this week, Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick denied Cumulus Radio’s request for an injunction to keep Rollen off the airwaves, according to The Star-Press.

The judge – who presided over a hearing on the case last week – noted attorneys for the New Castle station produced no evidence of any monetary losses, or an impact on ratings, as a result of Rollen’s work for the Marion and Kokomo stations.