Articles by George Gombossy

Defendants’ Motion to Strike the Amended Complaint, Nov. 18, 2009 (PDF) Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Strike the Amended Complaint, Nov. 18, 2009 (PDF) Earlier posts Watchdog Sues Tribune: accuses Courant…

CNN host Lou Dobbs told his “shocked” viewers tonight that he is leaving CNN immediately. The Harvard educated anchor, who in many ways dumbed down crucial discussions of important issues, declined to say why he…

LAW TRIBUNE: Is your new web site, CTWatchdog.com, going to be a replacement for your job at the Courant?
GEORGE GOMBOSSY: It is my job. And it will become profitable over time. It has potential.

LAW TRIBUNE: Do potential advertisers shy away when you say you won’t go easy on them?
GOMBOSSY: [On my site, a propane company pays] $200 a month for an ad, knowing full well that, any chance I get I will take a shot at the propane business, because it is the most opaque, least transparent, shadiest energy business in the country.
Advertisers don’t advertise because they like the publisher or the reporter. They couldn’t care less. They scream and holler about a negative story, but they don’t cut their advertising. If they have a bad image problem, if they’re smart they take out more ads. Think about it. How did this work out for Sleepy’s? Did the Courant really protect Sleepy’s [image]? I never investigated Sleepy’s. I just followed up on an attorney general’s investigation with just normal reporting.

LAW TRIBUNE: The Courant says that your position was eliminated, and you were offered a different job.
GOMBOSSY: No. I wasn’t offered any position…I was offered severance. It would have come with a gag order and a confidentiality agreement – I didn’t read it that closely, because it would have prevented me from suing the Courant.

LAW TRIBUNE: The Courant’s lawyers say your case has important employment law and First Amendment issues of first impression.
GOMBOSSY: The reason it’s a case of first impression is because no journalist has ever sued a newspaper claiming that their right of free speech was hampered or prevented because their employer refused to publish something that was in the public’s interest to know. [In this case,] the journalist was then fired for attempting to do what his job is.

The National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) presented George Gombossy with NACA’s 2009 Media Award at their annual meeting held last month in Philadelphia. The award last year was given to two reporters from Business Week.

Gombossy was the first investigative consumer columnist in the Hartford Courant’s history, and unfortunately, probably its last, as he was fired on Aug. 14, 2009, after refusing to “be nice” to the papers’ major advertisers. For over three years, Mr. Gombossy served as the advocate for Connecticut’s consumers, working with thousands of readers who sent him complaints and tips. His Watchdog columns resulted in more than a dozen state investigations and improved customer service at many local and regional companies. He continues to rattle the chain of big business with his www.CtWatchdog.com website.