Atlanta Radio: Cadillac Jack Sues Cumulus for Wrongful Termination

Former veteran WKHX Kicks 101.5 morning host Cadillac Jack has sued the Atlanta-based parent company Cumulus Media for wrongful termination, citing a boss who regularly harassed and bullied him over his sexual orientationm reports media watcher Rodney Ho at ajc.com.

Cadillac Jack

Last July, Caddy - whose real name is William Choate and is referred to as such in the lawsuit - was let go abruptly from Kicks with 22 months left on his employment contract. According to the lawsuit, he was fired “with cause” but Caddy believes the cause was just an excuse to get rid of him and his hefty salary.

The long-time country music DJ is seeking $732,258.05, based on his annual $400,000 salary over those remaining 22 months of his contract with what was called Kicks but has since been re-named New Country 101.5.

Over Caddy’s first 22 years at the company - which went through multiple owners - “the environment was genial, supportive, and professional,” according to the lawsuit. But he said that changed when Cumulus hired Sean Shannon in April, 2015 as vice president and market manager. Afterwards, Caddy contended, “the working environment of the Atlanta offices where Mr. Choate reported daily dramatically changed.”

Caddy, in the lawsuit, said he began receiving a barrage of “derogatory comments from Mr. Shannon regarding Mr. Choate’s sexual orientation and failure to conform to gender norms.”

The lawsuit noted that “Mr. Choate identifies as a bi-sexual male, an aspect of his personal life that he generally keeps to himself and only shares with those close to him.”

• Among the allegations in the lawsuit of what Shannon said to and about Caddy at the radio station:- At meeting with other employees around, Shannon would say that Caddy was a “closeted homosexual” and his wife Donna would be “disgusted if she found out the news.”-
• Shannon said Caddy couldn’t be gay and a country music personality in Atlanta. - Shannon would openly complain at company meetings about Caddy’s $400,000 salary and felt he was overpaid.

According to Ho's account, Caddy felt “intimidated” and ‘fearful” for his job so he didn’t report Shannon’s behavior to Shannon’s bosses.

Caddy said other allegations came out that he denied and were used as a pretext for getting rid of him.