Cleveland critic sues his paper

A longtime reviewer sued his newspaper and the Cleveland Orchestra, charging that he was removed from his beat because of critical coverage of the conductor.

The lawsuit filed this week by Donald Rosenberg said the orchestra lobbied to get him reassigned and the Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, breached its commitment to independence by caving in to outside pressure.

The suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages but stops short of asking for his return to the orchestra beat.

Rosenberg, 56, who was the newspaper’s orchestra critic for 16 years, was reassigned in September to cover other music groups. Editor Susan Goldberg said the paper wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit.