Former San Diego Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley’s lawsuit against his former paper is heading back to court after an appellate court reinstated it after it was thrown out in 2009. At issue is whether the newspaper threatened Steve Breen with his job if he continued to collaborate with Kelley on the comic strip Dustin which was still in development at the time. Breen eventually pulled out of the partnership and Kelley sued the paper on three counts: intentional interference with contractual relations; intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and unfair competition.
Dustin eventually was launched with another syndicate and with another cartoonist Jeff Parker. It boasts a client list of over 300 and won the 2011 Reuben Award for best newspaper cartoon.