Former ‘Up All Night’ Host Asks Judge To Issue Default Judgement In Wage Suit.

Country radio personality Patrick Thomas is asking a federal judge to move forward with his lawsuit against live entertainment app PickleJar after what he says has been nearly a year of inactivity in the case. According to a recent court filing, Thomas says his attorneys submitted an initial settlement demand in August 2025 at the request of PickleJar’s legal team, but have received neither a counteroffer nor any other substantive response in the months since.

As a result, Thomas is asking U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson to enter a default judgment against PickleJar. If granted, the request would allow the court to resolve the case without participation from the defendant. Default judgments frequently result in plaintiffs being awarded the damages or other relief sought in their original complaint.

PickleJar produced the Nashville-based “PickleJar Up All Night” syndicated overnight show from May 2003 until December 2024. The show was hosted by Thomas, who in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville last year alleges the company has refused to pay his salary and bonuses related to his show that aired on about 50 stations in a partnership with Cumulus Media — which is not named in the complaint.

According to court documents, PickleJar promised to pay Thomas a salary of $150,000 per year and quarterly bonuses equal to roughly 20% of his total base salary. But “Up All Night” came to an abrupt end last December. In his lawsuit, Thomas says PickleJar has refused to issue his paychecks for December 2024 or April 2025 — when his deal with the company came to an end. The suit says PickleJar has also failed to pay him any of his contractual bonuses for the entire time he was hosting the show. Court documents say Thomas “requested his unpaid wages on multiple occasions” and contacted PickleJar founder/CEO Jeffrey James, but it had little impact.

The lawsuit does not seek any specific amount in damages. But it says that the total is now “believed to exceed $75,000,” excluding interest and legal costs — both of which Thomas is seeking in the complaint.

PickleJar has not yet responded to the suit.

Thomas left Silverfish Media’s “The Big D and Bubba Show” in April 2023 for the opportunity to host his own show in overnights for PickleJar. “I never thought anyone would offer me my own national show,” Thomas told Inside Radio sister publication Country Insider at the time, adding, “I didn’t really want to leave, but I have to go do this.”

Thomas is not yet back on the air. But he currently co-hosts a live-streamed comedy show called “One Time in Nashville” on the first Thursday of each month at Zanie’s Nashville.