On June 26, Bonneville International asked U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd to set July 16 as the date to hold a summary judgement hearing in the case of former Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear against his former employer. That date has now passed without a ruling which would determine if the case moves forward to trial. As such, the trial date, which was initially set for November 13, has also been postponed.
BSM reached out to Napear’s attorney, Matthew Ruggles of the Ruggles Law Firm, who said he was not surprised a decision on Bonneville’s motion for summary judgement was not announced as planned.
“The District Court took the hearing off the calendar, which happens periodically in federal court,” Ruggles said. “Unlike state court, a party is not entitled to hearing on motions in federal court, and district court judges often take motions ‘under submission’ without oral argument, which is what the District Court has done in this case.”
Ruggles added he anticipates the new trial date will now be moved into 2025.
Napear is suing Bonneville for his firing which occurred after a controversial social media post which was tied to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
After tweeting “All lives matter…Every single one,” less than a week after Floyd died while in the custody of police, Napear lost his radio job with Bonneville and his television job calling Kings games.
“Although I anticipate the District Court will issue a decision on the motion soon, there is no particular deadline or set timetable by which the judge must issue a decision, keeping in mind that the District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento is one of the busiest federal courts in California if not the entire country,” Ruggles said.
The case has been in litigation since 2021.
Napear is a two-time Emmy Award winner and was the host of the Grant Napear Show with Doug Christie. He currently hosts a podcast, If You Don’t Like That with Grant Napear.
