Davenport IA -- 93 Rock fans claim station reneged on $150,000. That was the promise two Quad-City men say a radio station made before they had a logo of the radio station permanently tattooed across their foreheads, a lawsuit in Scott County District Court states. But 93.5 KORB has not paid the $30,000 a year for five years to each of the men as promised, Richard Goddard Jr. of Rock Island and David Winkleman of Davenport say.
Goddard and Winkleman are suing Cumulus Broadcasting, the parent company of 93.5 KORB, and disk jockey Ben Stone, also known as Benjamin Stomberg.
Alicia Gieck, the attorney for Goddard and Winkleman, declined comment when contacted by the Quad-City Times. Craig Levien, the attorney for Cumulus, said the company is "vigorously contesting" the lawsuit.
"Stomberg made the false promise as a practical joke, so that persons who responded to the announcement with the intention of receiving tattoos could be publicly scorned and ridiculed for their greed and lack of common good sense," the lawsuit states.
Stomberg announced on air on Nov. 29, 2000, that the station would provide backstage passes and concert tickets to anyone who put a temporary 93 Rock tattoo on their forehead, documents state. He then offered $30,000 a year for five years to anyone who got a permanent tattoo of the logo on their forehead.
Winkleman heard the offer and called Goddard. The two called the radio station and were told the promise was legitimate, the lawsuit states. The men then met with officials at the radio station.
Winkleman and Goddard went to the Scorpion’s Den tattoo parlor, where a individual who said he was with KORB paid for the men’s tattoos, documents state. The radio station took pictures of the tattoos and placed them on its Web site.
The station did not pay the men the money promised, the lawsuit states. Winkleman was fired from his job, and both were unable to get a job.
Winkleman and Goddard are suing for breach of contract, fraud and negligence. "The defendant had no intentions to pay $30,000 a year for five years," the lawsuit states.
The radio station, the men believe, "had a duty to monitor the activities of their disk jockeys and to stop such practical jokes before others took action to its own detriment."
A trial date has not yet been set.
