It’s a little after 8:00 a.m., Monday the 24th of June. The lights are coming on in offices all over Harrisburg. And with that action, many offices’ background music click on to a blend of ‘80s one-hit wonders and anthems, currently being served up by the newly re-formatted all-’80s station, WRKZ 102.3 FM.

But wait. That’s not Toni Basil. It’s not John Cougar Mellencamp either. It’s Bruce Bond!

On the air again after seven months of unemployment, Bruce plugged in to WRKZ with his familiar talk-radio format weekdays, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and instantly stepped into the limelight of controversy… again. This time, Bruce is being sued by former employer WNNK (WINK 104 FM), a Cumulus Media radio station, for directly violating his non-compete agreement with that station.

Known, if not revered, for his caustic personality and unforgiving willingness to attack just about any topic or person he sees fit, Bruce Bond was suspended last November 30th, 2001 and subsequently fired on December 10th, when employer WINK 104 apparently decided they had enough of the shock jock’s attacks on fellow station personnel.

Showcasing the afternoon day part (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.) on WINK for years and years, the Late Afternoon Show featuring Bruce Bond drew a formidable audience, outstanding ratings, and sizable ad revenues for the station during its tenure. Formatted specifically as talk-radio, the Late Afternoon Show barreled with creative content, including outbound phone calls to pay phones in New York City, Buddy Hackett, and random showbiz personalities. Bits ranged from fictitious accounts of a dog locked in a car on a hot summer afternoon to (then intern) Matt "Stretch" Raback reporting in on a cell phone, taking explicit direction from Bruce for what to do and say while in a public setting.

Anything but boring, the Late Afternoon Show owned the market share, and the majority of it owed to Bruce Bond’s innate ability to berate, compliment, insult, and praise people, businesses, and issues with finesse and refined purpose.

And once motivated, Bruce was relentless.

Over the years, he managed to offend and/or piss off advertisers, politicians, and most often co-workers, who he openly talked about on the air. Over the years, there were many targets, mostly other on-air personalities, but occasionally just plain old staff. And with the taunting came Bruce’s fair share of reprimands, suspensions, temporary relocations, and of course lawsuits.

Bruce tells MODE, in an exclusive interview, that his co-workers often got upset because they just couldn’t do on their shows, what he did on his — talk. He shares, "Because of me getting my way, and doing a talk show, and being able to go on and talk about whatever, I think it created a problem with other employees where they got jealous of me, and felt that I was getting more than they were. And I was, because that was the nature of my show, which was different from all of the other day parts."

So they got jealous, and they complained. But Bruce’s commentary on co-workers’ personal or professional lives was a great part of his appeal and ratings. So, (then WINK Station Manager) Ron Giovaniello, now Cumulus Media Market Manager, would step in, and smooth out the bumps. Bruce relates, "When that happened they would get all upset and jealous about things and then Ron was always in the middle of stuff like that. But that was what my job was." That was his job, to be WINK 104’s shock jock.

Sometime in 2001, Bruce’s sights lay aim on WINK 104 Morning Show personality Tim Burns. His occasional but pointed commentary about Tim and co-host Sue Campbell commonly resulted in an invitation to Ron Giovaniello’s office for a "chat." As Giovaniello stated in his testimony last Thursday morning, in Cumberland County court, "Bruce would always say he was sorry." And then, he would do it again.

According to Bruce’s attorney, Todd Shill of Harrisburg law firm, Rhoads & Sinon, LLP, "That was what he was paid to do. He was paid to be irreverent, paid to fight management, fight employees, and that’s what got him an audience."

But on November 30th, 2001 a little poke at Burns, via the reading of an e-mail, became the last straw for Bruce. Evidence presented by Giovaniello’s testimony in the court case filed Monday, June 24, asking for an emergency injunction to remove Bruce Bond from appearing on air for WRKZ, stated that Bruce had been warned repeatedly not to "badger or even mention Tim Burns’ name on the air."

"I was shocked! I didn’t think they would fire me," comments Bruce during our interview. He’d done much worse in the past, as he notes on his website, BruceBond.com.

If you visit BruceBond.com you’ll find several references to Bruce’s impending lawsuit, although not direct. Under the section called "SPECIALS," you can click on "Why Bruce Was Fired" and then choose either "The Evidence" or "The Explanation."

The Evidence will offer you a brief explanation of what transpired during Bruce’s last show that aired, including an audio clip, but no outline of the events leading up to that day. Needless to say, Bruce just kept being Bruce.

The Explanation is a personal note from "the desk of Bruce Bond," thanking supporters, presenting a bit of humility, apologizing for driving friends crazy during his unemployment, and reassuring the masses that it’s not a stunt, and that Bruce will never work at WINK again — unless he comes to own the station.

Bruce remained out of work, without unemployment or severance from his former employer, for seven months. Suffice it to say, he tried diligently to find work in other markets, but the offers we slim. Bruce comments, "I was looking nationally. I had sent out 25 to 30 packages. It was just bad timing to be hired."

But station management changes at Citadel found great interest in Bruce Bond, and after several months of negotiation, Bruce switched on at WRKZ 102.3 FM, Monday, June 24th with full legal support from Citadel for the inevitable lawsuits to follow.

But what of Stretch?

Loyal companion, friend, intern, sidekick, co-host, Stretch left his sales position at WINK 104 on Friday, June 21st, 2001 and debuted with Bruce the following Monday on WRKZ.

When asked about the seemingly abrupt move, Stretch told MODE, "I never wanted to leave WINK. I always liked it there. After Bruce was fired, I was kind of pissed off at him, because he really screwed up my life, but I got over that. Then when Todd Shill approached me about the whole possibility, it was [worth considering]."

He goes on to say, "I wasn’t happy about doing full-time sales, I didn’t want to do full-time sales, I never wanted to do that. So then I thought about it but I didn’t really decide until about a week before [going on the air]."

Stretch admits that he was apprehensive about taking such a big risk. Moving from a 50,000 watt station doing full-time sales with pretty good ratings, to a 3,000 watt station playing an ‘80s format with non-existent ratings, and being on the air with a loose canon, had its questionable points. "It was tough, and it was a big deal. I thought, and thought, and thought about this for a month and a half," he adds.

Thus the last minute decision to move on from WINK.

But WINK is suing Stretch for both violation of his non-compete and failure to negotiate in good faith. He comments, "Suing me for my programming non-compete is ridiculous because there is a specific clause in my contract that says if I quit sales because I find it personally or financially dissatisfying, then I quit, and my non-compete for programming disappears; I’m honoring the sales non-compete, so their suing me for failure to negotiate in good faith [is ridiculous]."

But according to Cumulus Media Market Manager Ron Giovaniello, it’s all about honoring the agreements between Bruce, and Stretch, and the station. "We have to enforce the agreements," says Giovaniello. Without agreements, no one is protected or liable.

And WINK and Cumulus are talking about damages. If they win against Bruce and Stretch, the amounts could be astronomical.

Compound that with Bruce’s impending counter claim against WINK, based on being fired without cause, and the case becomes more intricate. Bruce’s attorney Todd Shill explains, "We are going to be raising a counter claim against WINK. His contract says that if he is fired without cause, which we believe he was, they owe him six months salary, which equates to about $50,000."

Both sides have valid cases and apparently significant evidence to substantiate their claims. Both believe, with certainty, that they have the steadfast case and will win. One, clearly, will not.

But the case could go on long after Bruce’s and Stretch’s non-competes expire. And once the dust settles, Bruce will most likely still be on the air. He says, "What’s amazing is that when they fired me, did they think that a year later I would be a nobody, washed up, gone, not able to get a job in this town?"

A valid point. Bruce would eventually be on the air again.

In Giovaniello’s testimony, he indicates that, "Bruce’s show was a significant source of ratings, advertisers and income." Stretch, in our interview, reinforces what he believes was WINK’s biggest mistake, "I think they’re really concerned about the whole revenue thing, and about Denny and Sue now doing mornings, and I think they’re concerned about us taking some shares away from the morning show and then also taking advertisers away, which is already starting to happen."

But Bruce’s defense, to be presented in court (as of now, in September), will be based largely on the fact that WINK 104 considered Bruce to be worthless as an employee, and the timing was right to terminate him before paying a significant third-year contract salary.

It’s all about money. WRKZ’s parent Citadel is willing to bank on the future profitability of Bruce and Stretch, while WNNK’s Cumulus Media already knows what Bruce has done in the past.

The duo has been instructed to "keep quiet" about their legal challenges, and focus on developing the show. But rumor has it that their occasional comments referring to their "dentist appointments" may very well be about this law suit.