Singer Katie Armiger speaks out about sexual harassment in country music, gets sued

Soon after sexual harassment allegations emerged against Harvey Weinstein, a 26-year-old country artist spoke out about her own experiences being groped by radio DJs and programmers when she was a teen.

"I was told that's how it was and, if I wanted to be in music, I'd have to get over it," Katie Armiger said in a FoxNews.com interview. Armiger also took to social media to highlight sexual harassment in the country music industry.

The singer-songwriter now faces a costly legal battle over her words. 

Armiger’s former record label has filed suit against her, saying her statements violate a “non-disparagement clause” that is part of a confidential settlement reached in 2016 after she left the label.

Filed last month, the lawsuit by Texas-based Cold River Records and its owner, Pete O’Heeron, seeks an injunction against Armiger that could bar her from making any further comments about the sexual harassment she said she experienced after cutting her first record deal at the age of 15.

It also seeks an unspecified amount in monetary damages against Armiger, who has since left the industry to become a full-time college student.

More:Taylor Swift in groping trial: 'It was a definite grab. A very long grab.'

More:More sexual harassment accusations emerge against former Dolly Parton publicist

The legal dispute unfolding in a Nashville courtroom comes amid growing national discussion over settlements that keep secret details of sexual harassment involving public figures in Congress and in statehouses, at major media outlets and American corporations, and in music, film and television.

Congress was revealed late last month to have a fund used for payouts in binding settlements that kept both sides quiet about sexual misconduct allegations.

Critics of such settlements say they protect perpetrators of sexual misconduct, muzzling victims. Some victim advocates, however, say the agreements have allowed victims to seek redress while protecting their privacy.

Armiger is firing back in court. In a countersuit, Armiger says that a confidential settlement that silences sexual harassment victims violates broader public policy imperatives and should not be enforced.

Armiger said she entered into the non-disparagement agreement to be able to move on with her career. She questions now whether it was worth it.

“It was pitched to me at the time that if maybe I just settled, if we said less even though we wanted to say everything and shout it from the rooftops, that I might get my music back,” said Armiger of the settlement, which included an agreement on the rights to her music and social media accounts.

“I thought, OK, if I don’t say anything or if I say less, then maybe that will happen, but that hasn’t been the case and I feel comfortable now saying my truth,” she said.

O'Heeron contends Armiger never informed his company about incidents of sexual harassment or assault, according to the lawsuit.

Through his attorneys, O'Heeron called it "ironic" that Armiger is now questioning the non-disparagement agreement.

"There is certainly a legitimate policy discussion to be had as to whether non-disparagement agreements should prohibit parties from airing legitimate concerns regarding matters of public interest," an emailed statement said. "However, in this case, it was Ms. Armiger who wanted the non-disparagement provision and she is seeking to enforce it against Cold River. So it is ironic that she would now claim such enforcement is barred by public policy."

Armiger's words have had an impact on O'Heeron, his company and reputation in the industry, the lawsuit said.

Cold River Records received a death threat after Armiger's FoxNews.com interview.

It’s not ‘losing’ your integrity … it’s ‘playing’ a role.

In 2016, Armiger and O'Heeron settled a bitter dispute involving a five-album record deal. The spat was a family ordeal. Armiger is the daughter of O'Heeron's first cousin. 

Armiger had enjoyed a degree of success at the independent label. Her most recent album, 2013's "Fall Into Me," peaked at No. 7 on the country albums chart.

But she was increasingly unhappy.

Armiger and O’Heeron parted ways before the fifth album was recorded. Who initiated that parting is in dispute. 

What happened next is not. 

Cold River sued Armiger for breach of contract. Armiger filed a countersuit, alleging sexual harassment. Her suit alleged Cold River officials told her to "sex it up" and hug, flirt and kiss radio programmers and sit in their laps.

In court documents, she presented text messages and email exchanges with O’Heeron.

“I’m not going to flirt relentlessly to get my music played," Arminger texted in 2015. "Maybe that’s the truth of what this industry needs from a female artist, but I have integrity and I’m going to believe that you can be a sincere person with great music and still make it.”

O’Heeron's response: “It’s not ‘losing’ your integrity … it’s ‘playing’ a role. You need to ‘get over’ that! I play a role when I hug these guys … it’s not losing my integrity … it’s playing a role … just like 49 yr old Tim McGraw shaking his ass … it’s playing a role.”

O’Heeron emailed Armiger a photo of a radio program director cradling a young woman wearing shorts and a plaid shirt with both arms, his tongue sticking out toward her.

“I couldn’t have found a better example of what I’m talking about," O'Heeron's accompanying message said. 

“I’m sorry … I don’t think any of this is out of line,” he wrote. “If that makes you uncomfortable, I’m sorry … but that’s the market you operate in. You can choose to accept our advice or not. Taylor Swift hugged and kissed these guys … so did Kellie Pickler and Kelsea Ballerini … if you choose not to, then that’s up to you and your career will be impacted.”

(Swift earlier this year won a lawsuit against former Denver country radio DJ David Mueller for groping her at a public event in 2003.)

To settle their differences, Cold River Records and Armiger entered into a confidential agreement. Included in their settlement was a “non-disparagement clause.” Both parties agreed “not to take any actions or make any statements, written or oral, that would denigrate, defame or disparage the goodwill or reputation of another party.” The non-disparagement clause was part of a broader settlement of all outstanding business disputes.

Such non-disparagement clauses are routine in Nashville's music industry, according to entertainment industry attorney David Crow.

“Generally the first amendment gives you a right to state your opinion,” he said. “But these agreements are, contractually, the parties agreeing to limit what otherwise would be right to say and do certain things.”

After she left Cold River Records, Armiger said she had trouble getting work in the music industry because of her allegations of sexual harassment.

'He grabbed my butt during the photo'

After the Weinstein scandal broke, Armiger was interviewed by FoxNews.com in October. An attorney accompanied her, she said, "to make sure I didn't violate the terms of the agreement."

She spoke of being harassed by radio DJs and country station programmers.

"I was at a radio station in Texas and was taking a promo photo with one of the on-air DJs after doing my performance, and he grabbed my butt during the photo," she said. 

"And at the same time he was whispering in my ear, 'When are you going to be legal?' "

Armiger refused to comment directly to questions about her dispute with O'Heeron or Cold River Records, the story said.

After the interview was published, O'Heeron issued a statement saying his company strongly condemned sexual harassment and never heard Armiger complain of inappropriate physical contact. 

O'Heeron also gave his own interview to Billboard magazine.

"Nashville seems to be an island of morality" in the entertainment business, he said.

"Going from Katie Armiger to Harvey Weinstein is a leap over a chasm," he said. "These aren't equivalents. Harvey Weinstein exposed himself to women; forced himself on women; lured them to his bedroom. There is absolutely no accusation like that from Katie."

Alex Little, a Nashville attorney, tweeted O'Heeron's statements, saying, "If it wasn't already clear, Pete O'Herron (sic) is scum ... ."

Armiger retweeted Little's statement to her 47,700 Twitter followers. 

Armiger also retweeted a message from one of her followers that said: O'Heeron "is not gonna 'make you' but he's gonna punish you if you don't. Manipulation of the highest order."

Armiger added the words "exactly right" before sharing it.

It is those posts and her interview with FoxNews.com that O'Heeron is citing as violations of the non-disparagement clause. 

The lawsuit is particularly egregious because Armiger didn't name Cold River Records, O'Heeron or the radio personnel in her statements about sexual harassment, said Little, who is now representing Armiger in the lawsuit filed by Cold River Records.

Little argues the non-disparagement clause should not apply anyway.

"It's not in the public's interest to make such contracts," Little said. 

A career in an entertainment industry often does require a focus on appearance that would not be acceptable in other sectors, said Emily Martin, general counsel and vice president for workplace justice at the National Women's Law Center. 

"But that's a little different from being told to flirt and kiss," she said. "Even in industries where your appearance is considered part of the job, that doesn't provide a broad right or legal right to encourage you to make yourself sexually available," she said. 

Do agreements protect or harm victims?

Non-disparagement clauses differ slightly from "non-disclosure" agreements that are common in settlements arising out of sexual harassment claims, Martin said.

Non-disparagement clauses "say we're not going to say bad things about each other publicly," while non-disclosure clauses "go more to ensuring that anyone can't talk about the underlying matter that's been disclosed."

Despite that nuance, the effects are similar, she said.

"Given as we have seen in the news recently that non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements can have the effect of allowing harassment to be ongoing over many years to protect predators ... I think it's a good argument to make that enforcing secrecy around some types of non-disclosure and non-disparagement claims is dangerous and against public policy," she said. 

But barring such agreements altogether — or retroactively making them public, as some congressional leaders have suggested happen in settlements reached involving elected officials — may not aid victims.

"There is some nuance in the issue, some reason to worry that if courts or legislators said you can't have non-disclosure agreements as part of a settlement of sexual harassment claims, some worry that it will be harder for victims of sexual harassment to get some sort of remedy," she said. 

Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com or 615-259-8092 and on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.