Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch

(September 10, 2010) The legal wrangling of nearly 21/2 years involving Kevin Slaten and the former owners of KFNS apparently is about to conclude. Slaten's attorney said Thursday a tentative settlement has been reached in his client's wrongful termination lawsuit against the station's former owner.

Chet Pleban, who represents Slaten, said a confidentiality clause in the deal prevents him from discussing terms of the agreement. When the suit was filed, it was said Slaten would seek at least $300,000 if the case went to trial. That court date is set for Monday in St. Louis County, but Pleban said because of the agreement only procedural matters will be addressed then.

"The lawyers are preparing the documents,'' Pleban said.

Kevin King, who is representing KFNS' former owners, could not be reached for comment.

The matter has been festering since March 2008 when Slaten had a contentious interview with Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, who did not know the conversation was taking place on the air. Slaten was fired soon afterward and filed a breach of contract suit against Archway Assets, a division of then-KFNS (590 AM) owner Big League Broadcasting. That's the Atlanta-based company that recently sold its final St. Louis assets.

Big League said the firing was justified because Slaten violated FCC rules by placing Duncan on the air without his consent. Slaten countered that he personally didn't put Duncan on the air, that it was done by a control-board operator. He also contended the station was having financial trouble and used the incident as an easy way to drop his annual $161,500 salary.

There have been several raucous proceedings through the legal process, including the producer of the show being asked to testify as to how his attention deficit disorder could have played a role in the interview and other testimony about KFNS officials trying to cover up the matter by having a tape of the segment disappear.

And after a judge upheld a clause in Slaten's KFNS contract that kept him off the local airwaves for six months following his dismissal, Slaten said: "Based on a ruling like this, according to this court, we live in Baghdad. ... In Baghdad you can be prevented from making a living. In Moscow you can be prevented from making a living. And in St. Louis you can be prevented from making a living.''

Slaten, who now is at KSLG (1380 AM), said he is satisfied with the settlement agreement.

"I look forward to continuing my career,'' he said. "And I look forward to St. Louis being without (Big League) in the market.''

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