posted September 20, 2007 02:37 AM              

He quit as a presenter in 2005 over a controversial report that cast doubt on President George W Bush's military service during the Vietnam war.

He says CBS made him a scapegoat for the broadcast and is claiming breach of contract, saying he was not given enough airtime in his final year.

CBS responded that the complaints were old news and the case without merit.

Reuters news agency quoted Rather's lawsuit, filed at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, as saying:
"Central to defendants' plan to pacify the White House was to offer Rather as the public face of the story, and as a scapegoat for CBS management's bungling of the entire episode."

Rather, 75, narrated the September 2004 report that claimed Mr Bush had dodged duties during his National Guard service and received preferential treatment.

The broadcaster, one of America's most famous faces, maintains the story was true but an independent review for the network found the report was neither fair nor accurate.

Rather stepped down as anchorman in March 2005 before quitting CBS altogether a year later after 44 years with the network.