Sherman states that relations with her superiors became noticeably more strained after she stood up to Papa John's. Sherman's husband, Marc -- the program director at Clear Channel station Sunny 99 -- got a phone call from Martiny in which the latter joked that he had just fired Sherman's wife, the suit says. Apparently he wasn't exactly joking. On September 3, Marc Sherman called June over to his office and showed her an Internet posting for her job, one that said it needed filling. June Sherman confronted Martiny about the help-wanted ad. Martiny denied knowing about the matter and summoned Abreu to his office. Abreu also professed ignorance. The next day, Drew Hilles, another Clear Channel employee, called her and told her the posting was a terrible mistake, that she shouldn't worry, that her job was safe, according to the suit.
Apparently this wasn't so. The ad didn't come down, and applicants were practically lining up at her door. A former client sent her an ad and asked Sherman for advice -- did Sherman think the friend was up to the job? Sherman recognized the job description as her own, and a close friend of Hilles's was also said to be in contention for her job. She approached Martiny about it, who told her not to worry, that he had "no clue" why the posting was still up, the suit says.
As Halloween approached, Sherman started worrying about the haunted house again. She approached Martiny and Abreu with her misgivings. They told her to zip it, the suit says. She decided to go over their heads. She called Mark Kopelman, ostensibly to talk about the press releases for opening night, but then she went on to talk about the event. The suit says that Kopelman cut her short and referred questions about the press releases to his brother, who told her that the releases would have to be written by her. Sherman complied.
According to the suit, the "haunted house was very profitable for Steve and/or Mark." Apparently, however, they weren't in the mood to share the wealth, because on December 4, haunted house director Phillip Rose called Clear Channel Broadcasting and told them he had several Papa John's banners that he would not surrender until Steve Kopelman paid him the wages he was due, the suit says. More than a month later, Rose still hadn't been paid and he still held the banners hostage, the suit says. Sherman says she forwarded the message to Mark Kopelman, who ignored the matter.
On January 13, Sherman again approached Abreu about the haunted house, with fateful results. Abreu emerges from the suit as something of a wild child. According to the suit, at an Enrique Iglesias concert, she was very drunk and very paranoid. In the presence of Sherman, she fretted that none of her underlings liked her, called one of the associates "a fat bitch" and forced Sherman to say, "I am not afraid of you and I love you," the suit says. When Sherman balked, Abreu became abusive and berated her until she complied, Sherman alleges.
One week previous to this meeting, the suit says, Abreu announced that she couldn't conduct the proceedings because she had gotten drunk at a raucous lunch with Kopelman, Martiny and Hilles, at which Kopelman handed out Rolexes to Abreu, Hilles and Martiny. Four days later, she left work early complaining about a hangover, the suit says.
And Sherman's suit says she could tell that Abreu had her third hangover of the last seven days on the 13th -- Abreu's office was dark save for a lamp, and she was wearing sunglasses. According to the suit, Abreu received her rudely -- she set up an egg timer in the shape of a pig and told Sherman to be quick. Sherman reiterated the hostage banner mess. She told Abreu that Papa John's wanted its banners back, that a Clear Channel client was being harmed financially because Steve Kopelman wouldn't pay Rose, and that in addition to all the money Clear Channel had spent on the project, they were now in danger of losing a solid client.
In her suit, Sherman says she handed Abreu printouts of all the e-mails regarding the banners. "I sent this to Mark Kopelman last week and he hasn't responded," she said. "I'm very concerned about this -- and I am concerned that my character may be on the line. It's a very sticky situation since it involves Steve -- and Steve won't pay the Director of the Haunted House yet, and the Director is holding Papa John's banners hostage -- and the company is holding the bag for Mark and Steve."
