Don Rosenberg was moved off his beat covering the Cleveland Orchestra earlier this year. It was a controversial reassignment by The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Rosenberg was known for frequently stinging criticism of the orchestra's music director, Franz Welser-Moest.
Critics of Rosenberg's reassignment accused the paper of caving to pressure from the orchestra's backers.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday morning in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Rosenberg accuses the Plain Dealer and editor Susan Goldberg of discriminating against him on the basis of his age. He also accuses the Cleveland Orchestra's parent organization--the Musical Arts Association and some of its officers--of defamation and interference with his career.
Rosenberg: I can't be silent. There are many issues involved in this case. It's about freedom of speech; it's about freedom of the press; and it's certainly about censorship.
Rosenberg says, also named in the suit are Orchestra Executive Director Gary Hanson, Musical Arts Association President Richard Bogomolny, and former Arts Association President Jamie Ireland.
Messages left for the defendants have not yet been answered.