SJC Affirms Dismissal Of Somerville Mayor Curatone's Lawsuit Against Barstool Over Wiretapping Law

The state's highest court says a former radio host did not violate Massachusetts wiretapping law by recording Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone under a different identity.

Curtatone sued Barstool Sports and Kirk Minihane after Minihane, former WEEI host, called him in 2019 pretending to be Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen.

The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that the recording was not "secret," so no laws were violated.

"Minihane did not secretly hear or record the challenged communication within the meaning of the act, because the plaintiff knew throughout the call that his words were being heard and recorded," Justice Frank M. Gaziano wrote in the ruling.

"The identity of the party recording the communication or, indeed, the truthfulness with which that identity was asserted is irrelevant; rather, it is the act of hearing or recording itself that must be concealed to fall within the prohibition against 'interception' within the act."

On Twitter, Minihane reacted to the news of the decision saying that he knew he would win.