My Watchdog columnist colleague, George Gombossy, formerly of the Hartford Courant, has kept his promise and filed a lawsuit against his former employer, The Hartford Courant Company and its owner, Times Mirror Co.

But what makes this so unusual is that Gombossy didn’t go the predictable route — a wrongful termination lawsuit seeking damages.

No, Gombossy’s lawyer, Joseph D. Garrison, has gone a different route — one I’ve never heard of before in more than three decades of daily newspapering.

Let Mr. Garrison explain:

“This lawsuit is not only important to my client, it is vital to the people of Connecticut. The suit is brought under the state’s Free Speech statute, which protects workers from being fired or punished for exercising their First Amendment rights in the workplace.

“It’s the very essence of being an American, having the right to speak out in the workplace, especially on issues vital to the public.”

Garrison said in a statement that while this statute has been used by other workers who were punished for speaking out in the workplace, this is the first time a journalist has used it in Connecticut to contest his firing for acting on behalf of the public to protect the consumer, and at the same time keeping his own newspaper trustworthy.

Frankly, I’m stunned that this attorney chose to go this route because if he is successful, it could fundamentally alter the publisher-editor-reporter relationship on American newspapers, at least those in Connecticut.

That’s why this lawsuit is worth watching.

Gombossy was The Watchdog columnist at The Courant for three years before he was fired in a dispute with editors. Read Watchdog Nation’s original report about his firing by Dave Lieber in this previous blog post.

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Disclosure: WatchdogNation.com is a sponsor/advertiser of Gombossy’s new Web site, Connecticut Watchdog.

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Links:

Gombossy’s new Web site

The legal papers in the lawsuit

Statement by Hartford Courant after the suit was filed

Relevant state employment law