Beasley Media Group filed a lawsuit against Anthony Gargano of WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic on Monday, claiming the radio station's midday host violated a non-compete term in his employment contract by accepting a position at the AllCity digital sports network. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, also names Denver-based AllCity Network as a defendant for allegedly poaching The Fanatic's employees.
The Philly Business Journal reports, Beasley filed the lawsuit to make sure Gargano complies with the terms of his employment agreement, which restricts him from “performing certain competitive acts within the Philadelphia market during his employment and for six months thereafter.” The company said his contract expires Oct. 7, 2024.
Beasley also said the lawsuit is designed to “prevent All City from running roughshod over Beasley’s Agreement with Gargano, a strategy that All City and Gargano have apparently hatched in order to steal Beasley’s investments for their own new venture in Philadelphia.”
The lawsuit accuses Gargano of breach of contract and breach of duty of loyalty. AllCity is accused of tortious interference with contract. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the terms of Gargano’s contract, which would prevent him from working for AllCity until six months after his deal with Beasley expires. The suit also seeks financial damages.
Gargano has worked at The Fanatic since moving over in 2015 from rival SportsRadio 94 WIP-FM, first as the sports talk station's morning drive host and then in his current midday host role. With Mike Missanelli's departure last year, Gargano is perhaps The Fanatic's highest profile on-air talent who has deep connections with sponsors.
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In its complaint, Beasley said under his employment contract and the common law duty of loyalty, Gargano is prohibited from providing services to a competing business while he is employed by Beasley. Despite this, the lawsuit claims Gargano notified Beasley on Sept. 11 that while he intends to continue his role at The Fanatic, he had accepted employment at AllCity, where he will perform on podcasts, write articles for its website and create other content that Beasley believes will compete directly with The Fanatic.
In an interview Tuesday, AllCity co-founder and CEO Brandon Spano called the lawsuit “disappointing.” He said AllCity wanted to collaborate with Beasley, with the idea being that Gargano could work for both outlets. He said he believes The Fanatic is a completely different medium than AllCity and reaches a different audience.
Beasley said in its lawsuit that the company did not learn of AllCity’s offers to its employees until August. Gargano approached station manager Chuck Damico and asked if he could continue his Fanatic show while also working for AllCity, according to the complaint. He also suggested The Fanatic and AllCity partner and Beasley run the station’s shows on AllCity’s platform. Beasley said it declined Gargano’s request.
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