Don Imus, villified last month as everything wrong with the black community and the cause for AIDS in Africa isn’t going to take his firing laying down. In fact, according to Fortune Magazine, he intends to take CBS to court because a clause in his contract requires 1 warning before termination.

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host whose racial remarks engendered a media storm that triggered a swift upending of his career, is not going away quietly even if the imbroglio has all but disappeared from the national conversation in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.

For Imus, who made a career out of operating in the murky space between sophomoric humor and high-brow political talk, there is the little matter of about $40 million left on his contract with CBS Radio - whose boss Les Moonves fired the shock jock on April 12. CBS’ lawyers contend Imus was fired for cause and not owed the rest of the money.

But Imus has hired one of the nation’s premiere First Amendment attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted, according to one person who has read the contract.

The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10 million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color jokes. The source described it as a “dog has one- bite clause.” A lawsuit could be filed within a month, this person predicted.

A CBS spokesman declined comment, and Imus, through his attorney, also declined an interview.

Bo Dietl, a private investigator and author who is a long-time Imus confidante and was a regular guest on the show, has been making the rounds of the cable talk shows defending his friend and had this to say to Fortune: “I just heard that there is a contract in place, and that he can’t be fired without a warning.”

I was thinking today about the double standards in the radio business. As I was waiting for my train home tonight, I saw the poster above for Miss Jones. Miss Jones, for those of you who don’t recall, is the piece of garbage that performed “The Tsunami Song” (click here to hear it) on her show; a racist, wretched, disgusting piece of trash that ended up getting quite a few people on the show fired except for her.

That’s right. Despite the obvious racial overtones of the song, Miss Jones was not fired. Despite enormous outrage, she was merely suspended along with a couple of the cast members, and is now being actively promoted as the hot morning show in New York City.

What’s the difference between her and Don Imus?

She’s black, and therefore incapable of racism.

Well, that, and she didn’t actually get fired for her “racism.”

I should be clear. I don’t think she should’ve been fired; I’m only pointing out the inconsistency in punishments.

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