Former St. Louis Public Radio GM Tim Eby to appeal defamation suit dismissal

Tim Eby, a former GM of St. Louis Public Radio, plans to appeal the dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against the station’s licensee. 

The Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, STLPR’s licensee and the defendant in the lawsuit, argued that it was covered under sovereign immunity and was therefore immune from the suit. The university asked Missouri Circuit Court judge Joseph Whyte for a summary judgment ruling, which he granted April 15 in its favor. 

Sovereign immunity grants a government agency immunity from lawsuits, though it can be waived. A point of contention in Eby’s case was whether the university waived its sovereign immunity in its insurance policies. In his ruling, the judge found that the policies that would cover the university against Eby’s suit did not waive immunity.

“I want to begin by clarifying the Court’s ruling: the judge entered judgment on the issue of sovereign immunity and didn’t address the substance of the case, which was whether Mr. Eby was defamed by St. Louis Public Radio,” Eby’s attorney Christian Montroy told Current in a statement. “Tim and I believe that entry of judgment in his case was unjust, and that the University of Missouri and St. Louis Public Radio should not be permitted to destroy people’s lives by spreading falsehoods with impunity. My client will appeal the decision.”

On appeal, Eby plans to challenge “whether St. Louis Public Radio operated as a proprietary function,” meaning that it performs functions not historically provided by government entities, according to the notice of appeal filed Wednesday. In an earlier filing in the proceeding, Eby contended that STLPR is a proprietary function because it operates like a private business and the university does not control its editorial board, among other arguments.

Eby filed the defamation lawsuit in 2023 based on news articles that St. Louis Public Radio published about his departure. The articles referred to allegations by STLPR staffers that Eby had mismanaged finances and upheld a culture of white supremacy.

The university made its sovereign immunity argument at a hearing last year and asked Whyte to dismiss the case on those grounds. Whyte denied the motion because he said he needed more information about the university’s insurance policies.