Citadel Broadcasting Corp. has accused a former Tucson radio executive of stealing trade secrets for another broadcaster.
Todd Lawley ran Citadel's five Tucson stations until he quit in November to start Peak Broadcasting LLC — taking with him company information and other key employees, Citadel alleges in a federal lawsuit filed April 2.
Lawley has denied any wrongdoing, according to court records. He could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Citadel owns five local radio stations, including Tucson's top-rated station, country music KIIM 99.5 FM. Citadel executives did not immediately return a call for comment.
In the months leading up to his resignation, Lawley took part in "highly confidential and proprietary" discussions with Citadel CEO Farid Suleman about the company's bid on a cluster of radio stations put on the market by CBS Radio Stations Inc. in Fresno, according to the suit.
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Within a week of quitting Citadel, Lawley was announcing Peak's successful bid for the Fresno radio stations.
Citadel accuses Lawley of using Citadel's bid plan to win the CBS stations. The suit was filed in Boise, Idaho, where the two companies are competitors.
Additionally, "Lawley initiated a scheme to raid the ranks of Citadel Broadcasting employees — and, thereby, cripple Citadel Broadcasting in a host of markets — by recruiting and luring away key employees and managers of the company to join him in what he was then planning as a new endeavor at Peak Broadcasting," according to the lawsuit.
Among those he recruited,the suit says, were a regional manager who quit and deleted Citadel files from his company-issued laptop and a general manager who copied Citadel computer files and took them with him when he quit.
The files, including project plans, sales goals, budgets and promotional materials, "in the hands of a competitor would be devastating to the company," according to the lawsuit.
The suit accuses Lawley, Peak Broadcasting and four other former Citadel managers of eight civil charges, including stealing trade secrets, unfair competition and breach of fiduciary duty. No trial date has been set.
stations in Tucson
• KIIM, 99.5-FM, country music
• KTUC, 1400-AM, standards music
• KHYT, 107.5-FM, classic rock music
• KSZR, 97.5-FM, rock music
• KCUB, 1290-AM, talk radio