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Less than a month after being unceremoniously dumped by the newspaper he led for 17 years, former Press-Register Publisher Howard Bronson filed suit alleging the paper and it’s parent company Advance Publications committed a breach of contract, acted fraudulently and intentionally misrepresented themselves in dismissing him in August.

In a 46-page filing in Mobile County Circuit Court Friday afternoon, Bronson laid out his case against the Press-Register, which is ultimately owned by Newhouse Newspapers, one of the nation’s largest chains. Bronson also named Advance Publications’ Managing Partner Mark Newhouse in the lawsuit. The suit claims Bronson was asked by Mark Newhouse on Aug. 10 to retire, who promised him six moths salary in return. Bronson demurred and was given a two-week notice by Newhouse. His last day at the paper was Aug. 29, and new publisher Ricky Mathews was announced to the staff the following Monday, Aug. 31. An article announcing Mathews’ arrival and Bronson’s retirement was published on al.com – Newhouse’s statewide Web site – that same day and was followed by a similar article in the Press-Register the following day. Both claimed Bronson had retired.

“That’s not true,” said Vince Kilborn, Bronson’s attorney. “He did not retire. He did not retire. And there are going to be a lot more people unceremoniously dropped. The reiterated their pledge as recently as 2008. They basically said, ‘you’re being replaced thank you very much.’”

Bronson’s civil suit centers upon the “Newhouse Pledge,” a well-known promise from the company to not lay-off or terminate its employees because of economic circumstances. Bronson’s suit claims he was wooed to work for the Press-Register in large part because of this pledge, one he says was a major selling point for bringing people to work for Newhouse Newspapers.

“The Newhouse family enticed him to come here 18 years ago saying he wouldn’t be terminated for economic reasons. Then they did that. The man isn’t happy,” Kilborn said.

The “Newhouse Pledge” is even placed on page one of the Press-Register’s employee manual, according to Bronson. It reads: “No full-time, non-represented employee will be laid-off or otherwise lose his or her job due to technological change or economic conditions, as long as our newspaper continues to publish daily in its current newsprint form. Of course, you are expected to perform your work satisfactorily and not engage in misconduct. Also, you must successfully complete your probationary period and be willing to retrain for another job, if our Company determines that is necessary.”

Not only does Bronson’s suit claim the pledge was violated in his termination, it claims the company is preparing for massive layoffs, and that Bronson was informed by the company in July of this year that it intends to eliminate the pledge effective Feb. 5, 2010. The suit claims Bronson voiced “strong disagreement” to his superiors about the revocation of the pledge and suggested it at least be kept in place for employees with more than five or 10 years of service. He claims that proposal was summarily rejected by the Newhouses, who are routinely found on Forbes list of the richest Americans.

“This is a heavy-weight lawsuit. Nobody ever sues the Newhouses. We’ve got ‘em scared,” Kilborn said.

The lawsuit paints the Newhouse family as one that has stopped caring about employees. “Bronson knew that the Newhouse Newspapers had gone from a company that put its employees first to a company run by a group of younger Newhouse cousins, with silver spoons and silk stockings, who do not give a damn about their employees. This new Newhouse regime consisted of a third generation of Newhouses, the grandchildren of the patriarch founder, the late S. I. Newhouse, Sr.,” the filing reads.

The suit also details a speech Bronson was to give to employees regarding the revocation of the pledge. It came with some prepared answers to expected questions, one of which says, “If our newspaper fails to adjust to the new circumstances facing our newspaper and industry, we will not survive and all of us will lose our jobs.”

Some of the other items detailed in the suit are how Bronson “improved efficiency” for both the Press-Register and the other Newhouse-owned papers in the state – the Huntsville Times and Birmingham News. Among those improvements were using Press-Register reporters to provide University of Alabama and Auburn University sports coverage, having the Press-Register provide accounting, human resources, telephone operations and classified ad sales for Huntsville, preparing to take over accounting for the Birmingham News, and printing for the Pensacola News-Journal.

Some insiders at the paper have speculated the Alabama Newhouse-owned papers are about to undergo the same kind of consolidation as went on in Michigan, where staffs were trimmed and moved into the same operations, some papers were cut back to four-day-a-week publishing schedules and some were closed. Mathews, in addition to being Press-Register publisher, is also in charge of The Huntsville Times and Birmingham News, although they still have their own publishers.

Over the past year, employees have already had to take unpaid leave, effectively reducing their salaries. Longtime Advertising Director Larry Wooley also announced his retirement in the past week, although P-R insiders say the move was not something forced by the corporation.

Bronson also claims to have saved the paper money by absorbing The Mississippi Press into the Press-Register and moving its skeletal crew into cheaper office space. Also revealed is a pending plan to cut the width of the newspaper in order to save money, and the voluntary buyout of approximately 36 full-time positions. All in all, Bronson claims to have reduced the paper’s full-time workforce by 63 positions over the past year.

Among the causes Bronson is suing for are willful or reckless misrepresentation, suppression of material fact, promissory fraud and breach of contract. Kilborn says he is suing actual damages amounting to the loss of salary and punitive damages to be decided by the jury.

“If you’re a loyal, trusted servant, and you get dropped, you’re in shock,” Kilborn said.

He says it could take up to two years for the case to go to trial.