CLEVELAND — Legal Analysis: Text messages to and from ESPN Cleveland radio host Tony Rizzo have been subpoenaed in a court case involving former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar.
Legally Speaking, there's probably not much Rizzo can do about that, and a recent court filing suggests he's cooperating with what's being asked of him.
Here’s a little background on the case.
Kosar has sued his former employer, digital media company BIGPLAY Media. He says the company breached his contract, and its CEO Kendall Myles threatened him. BIGPLAY has since countersued Kosar.
A lot of this is about a ceremonial $19,000 bet Kosar placed on Jan. 1, 2023, which was the day sports gambling became legal in Ohio. He placed it as part of his job for BIGPLAY Media.
That bet got Kosar fired from working with the Browns, because it’s against NFL policy for team employees to bet on NFL games.
Rizzo comes into this because he talked about the lawsuit on his radio show, ESPN Cleveland's "The Really Big Show." On the June 12, 2024 broadcast on 850 AM, he said, "Bernie is not going to comment on this publicly. He's commented on my phone, which is private."
Now, BIGPLAY Media has filed subpoenas in the court case to see all communications between Rizzo and Kosar since Kosar made that bet, and any communications between Rizzo and anyone else about this lawsuit. If you're thinking Rizzo can claim a journalist's privilege here, that's probably not going to work.
Ohio does have shield laws to protect journalists from being required to disclose certain things, but the point of them is to protect the identity of a source. Those laws don't protect any information shared with a journalist.
In general, text messages are considered electronic records that either side can ask for in a civil lawsuit. There are some exceptions, though, and Rizzo could try to make an argument for why his personal messages shouldn't be subpoenaed.
But remember, Rizzo isn't the only source for any messages he sent or received. The person on the other side of those communications could also be subpoenaed to hand them over, and if anyone claims anything has been lost or deleted, a forensic investigator could get called in to try to recover those messages, but that could get very expensive.
A motion filed by BIGPLAY Media's attorneys on Nov. 13 suggests Rizzo will comply with the subpoena he's been served with. It reads, in relevant part, "[T]he pending motion to show caused filed against Tony Rizzo (only) should be stayed while counsel for the Defendants works with counsel for Mr. Rizzo to potentially resolve the issues regarding Defendants' subpoena."
This means BIGPLAY Media's defense team is asking the court to pause on it's request for the court to compel Rizzo to show why he had not yet complied with the order to turn over communications.
Stephanie Haney is licensed to practice law in both Ohio and California.
The information in this article and video is provided for general informational purposes only. None of the information in this article and video is offered, nor should it be construed, as legal advice on any matter.