PRESS RELEASE from some KPFA LSB members regarding harrassment case

Now we're getting some sense. Present the charges, and have a fair hearing, The old innocent until PROVEN guilty under bourgeois democracy works wonders in situations like this. Even Marnie Tatersall who i believe has a de facto and de jure conflict of interest (her being an executive at a "competing" station), sees the wisdom in fair and due process.
Let the hearing begins.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.

EMPLOYER LIABILITY
All employers are prohibited from harassing employees in the workplace. If harassment occurs, an employer may be liable even if management was not aware of the harassment.

An employer might avoid liability if the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer had no knowledge of the harassment, and there was a program to prevent harassment. If the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer may avoid liability if the employer takes immediate and appropriate corrective action to stop the harassment once the employer learns about it. *Employers are strictly liable for harassment by their supervisors or agents.* The harasser can be held personally liable for damages.

Additionally, Government Code section 12940, subdivision (i), requires an entity to take "all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring." If an employer has failed to take such preventative measures, that employer can be held liable for the harassment.

A victim may be entitled to monetary damages even though no employment opportunity has been denied and there is no actual loss of pay or benefits.

It's important to remember that the law has determined that sexual harassment should be seen by a "reasonable woman's point of view" not the perpetrator's nor his fans.

Your process is flawed. Your responsibility as directors of the foundation is to ensure a safe workplace, that is the law. Do workers at KPFA deserve less? I'm appalled that it has been months since this matter was put before you, and that workers are told to simply wait because "due process" is so important. If your little concept of "due process" for settling your internal personnel decisions does not allow for a safe and hostility free workplace then you need to change that process. That GM should be on paid administrative leave at the very least while you are deliberating. Why hasn't that happened? KPFA workers do not deserve a hostile intimidating workplace, no workers do. Are you progressives or aren't you?

I saw all the names on the no confidence letter at kpfaworker.org. I've been listening to some of those people for a long time. I've never heard of any of you. Don't you think that since he's only been there like 6 months and that many established respectable people who I respect that are on kpfa every week and every day think he's unfit, why would you need to do all this deliberating? Are you a court of law? He's clearly not a good manager for KPFA. What's that about? Why can't you just "let him go." you know, not a good fit and all. get started with a search. If you don't this mediocrity could occupy that office for years! All those names on that letter, Isn't that what all those people marched through Berkeley for in 99? so that station workers would not be overruled by you removed boards, handing down edicts for their own good? You don't represent me, I'm a listener, I think this guy sounds like a jerk, and you made a mistake with the hire, why didn't you just let him go nice and quietly months ago and let him keep his dignity, or at least weeks ago when you saw the letter of No Confidence? you could have stopped all this. Why make everyone go through all this nonsense? I can't believe you all are wasting so much time being so concerned about this one person's due process. Why is that your job? I think you need to stand by what all those people who have to work with this guy say. Get rid of him.

Whatever Roy may have or have not done, the idea that one man, whose power is limited by, among other things, the power of the union of the paid staff, can create a "hostile" or "unsafe" work environment for 80 people is absurd. If there are people at the station facing a "hostile" or "unsafe" work environment, they are the GM himself and those on the staff who refuse to go along with the real powers at the station.

The staff at the station today would be playing a very different role if the old management had not been able, with the connivance of the paid staff, to purge most of the volunteer programmers in 1995.

The main reason for the financial problems at KPFA and WBAI is that there are too damn many paid staff jobs.

First, many thanks to Aaron for his outstanding comments and excellent defense of our radio station.

Second, we the 25,000 KPFA listeners have been waiting for changes for at least 10 years. Some of the obvious changes that need to be made:
(1) Socialists and Green Party members be interviewed in every election, and between elections. The socialist Peace & Freedom Party candidate Marsha Feinland, a Berkeley resident, won some 250,000 votes in her race against Barbara Boxer in 2004, yet not only did we hear no interview with her on KPFA during the campaign, but we continue to hear promotionals for the proud Democrat & Zionist Barbara Boxer on all newscasts. This is outrageous and unacceptable.

(2) All newscasters and political programs must stop promoting the Democrats and instead promote the socialists and Greens. It is very clear the the Morning Show and the evening news are big promoters of the Democrats. The 2 hosts on the Morning Show proudly proclaim their membership in the bankrupt Democratic Party and actively oppose socialists. Their idea of an election discussion is to interview Tim Redmond of the Democrat's mouthpiece, the Bay Guardian. We can all read the Bay Guardian online and on paper; we do not need to hear their support of the Democrats on KPFA.

(3) Guns & Butter be repeated during prime time (prime time is 7 to 10 p.m. during the week or 9 a.m.to 9 p.m. on the weekends). Guns & Butter is not only outstanding in its information to the audience, it is also an outstanding fundraiser. It put the spring fundraiser over the top and can easily do that with every fundraiser.

(4) Move the repeat performance of Democracy Now to prime time where not only will the information be heard, but it will also be an excellent fundraiser.

(5) Have a repeat performance of Flashpoints at 9 a.m. on weekdays instead of Democracy Now at that time and Flashpoints should be heard on all 5 Pacifica stations either simultaneous with one of its KPFA broadcasts, or when it suits that station. (It is now heard simultaneous with Houston at 5 p.m. Pacific time). So, we would have Democracy Now at 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays and Flashpoints at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Thus, we will have both excellent programs, as well as excellent fundraisers repeated during the day, increasing both the information to the audience and the cash flow from the audience.

(5) Increase the labor programming at KPFA. KPFA is now 60% music, and every single music program must be viewed as a filler. KPFA does not exist for the music; we can get that elsewhere. It exists to promote radical politics, and that of course, means opposing both the Democrats and Republicans. For starters, every single Democrat & Republican is by definition an active promoter of the bankrupt social order called capitalism and every single Democratic & Republican elected official is by definition a staunch supporter of the US military base known as Israel. Such reactionary politics have no place at KPFA.

"(5) Increase the labor programming at KPFA. KPFA is now 60% music, and every single music program must be viewed as a filler."

You're all for labor programming but you're against the workers at the station??? You support more shows on labor, but you think *80* workers at the station should resign because their oppose the boss? What crack are you smoking?

Roy Campanella responded to Weyland Suthern shouting curses at him by challenging him to settle it by ''stepping outside''. Suthern , by all accounts including his own , said '' Bring it on Motherfucker ! Lets go "' . ( Hardly the response of someone ''threatened with physical assault '' ) Fortunately once the two finally reached outside others intervened and the very two sided street fight didn't occur . Campanella shouldn't have responded to Suthern's provocations as he did . I'm not saying he should have did what every other Pacifica station manager would have done , that is suspended him (pending possible firing ) and ordering him to leave the station . But he shouldn't have responded to Suthern's bait as he did . That being said it's interesting that the ''staff '' have no problems with their union brother's (Suthern)behavior . I wonder what would happen if a CWA organizer or Clerical worker shouted curses at Local President Harvey . Any ideas from you KPFA union members ? Also the same staff that crying about how unsafe they feel with Roy around backed their co-worker Dev Ross when he threw chairs in the well known program council incident ! They considered it to be a legit response by Ross, a engineer , alleg. ''not being heard ''. Lastly about a year ago Vinnie Beacham, one of the Kpfa managers , confronted Miguel Molina . towered over him shouting , cursing etc.. Molina restrained himself and his son anda couple of friends from physically forcing the 300 lb. Beacham to back off . He(Molina) filed a grievance with the union stewards.. They only went thru the motions according to Molina and it was ''resolved '' by Acting G.M. Jim Bennett declaring it a'' mutual confrontation '('Despite all the evidence to the contrary ) The hypocristy from the faction of the staff that wants Campanella's head is gross.

The post above just illlustrates what workers at the station are up against. The person who said: "Let's take is outside motherfucker" was Roy Campanella. There's no dispute about that. He then followed Weyland out of the building.

But then, what would you know? You obviously are getting your information fourth or fifth hand (and it looks like you're making it up as you go along).

And hey, fuck the women at the station! They're obviously making it all up! What could be more enjoyable than coming out publicly about something as uncomfortable as sexual harassment? They're not men so let's just screw them over and say it's some big plot against the very radical Roy "Bay Watch" Campanella!

I'm not sure why due process is the most important point here. All these people that work there are saying that they have had experiences that leave them with no confidence in his leadership. Combine that with allegations from multiple people of illegal behavior, why does this take months to figure out?

Why is due process for one person more important than order and safety in the workplace? When fights or any kind of violent threat happens in my workplace the people are put on leave, if it's found they acted violently they are fired. I don't have to go calling the press to make that happen. This tends to give workers a feeling that there is order and safety, even when there is a disturbance we know that it will be handled and that a process exists to deal with it. I work for a corporate newspaper. Why do the KPFA workers deserve less job protections than I do?

You sound like condescending corporate managers. While you're enjoying your due process for this Hollywood director what are the workers at the station supposed to do? I think those women waited plenty long for you to act before filing charges and going public. You have failed KPFA's workers by dragging all this out, and I know that's what your doing, I've seen your kooky meetings.

I can say i agree with your statement overall , though i would feel better with a open statement of support for Roy Campanella . But i do have two questions . First all of you except one are either with the Peoplesradio organization or are friendly to it .So then why are you co-signing with the very destructive Marnie Tattersal ? I do not know if she is a ''corporate mole '' or not but i do know her record on the board has been awful. Why ally with her ? Secondly, i think a meeting about such a issue as this should not be secret but in public. I know that techincally it's concerning ''employee /personal'' issues but i think the fate of KPFA's manager affects all KPFA listeners and supporters , indeed the entire Progressive movement ! I expect the ''kpfaforward'' ie entenched group to be for as much secrecy as they can get away with but not you guys .There has been probably as many ''executive meetings ''as there has been public ones in the last year . Please stand up and say no to this . After all it's in your platform .

I stand by my statement .All my information comes from eyewitnesses to all three incidents (including two staff allies of yours ) I notice, F.C., that you don't comment on the incidents involving Beacham and Ross. I don't blame you . After all ' a couple of dozen people witnessed the Program council chair throwing and approx. a dozen saw Beacham's attempt to muscle Molina . It's hard to ''spin'' that to fit your faction of the staff's line , isn't it ? P.S. Please drop your allegations of ''sexism ''. I'm sure you reject the allegations of ''racism '' that more than a few people have thrown your way because of your desire to fire Campanella. Neither ''ism '' are the issues here .

The calls of sexual harassment should require careful consideration
and mediation regardless of the emotions involved.
Fair and due process with mediated communication between relevant players is at stake here and that is a process not integrated into the KPFA environment or Pacifica for that matter. Unfortunately each incident requires a re-invention of due process, mediation, conflict resolution.
The LSB Role:
Seems to me that the board has an obligation to review the charges and come to a fair democratic consensus as it appears they have done or are doing.
The board must think from "all sides" not just "one side" and the board should be deliberative.
As to the merits or credibility of the Individual charges? I don't think any of us are in a position to make a fair judgment or determination.
I also agree that observations of numerous incidences related to this so-called "kpfa unsafe work environment" has been numerous and diverse in recent years. Seems there's been consistent claims of adversarial relationships (minus the sex) with one group or another, one body over another, one employee over another, etc, etc, etc. So it begs the question...What is it about KPFA that seems to breed these types of internal and external relationships that put people on the fast track to an "unsafe work environment"? Is it a person or persons? Is it a philosophy? Is it a survival mechanism? Until these questions are answered and this open infected wound healed they will never solve the problem.
WBAI is only like the stillness just before a blackhole funnel forms. Next listen for that giant sucking sound.

The women were not only willing to take part in mediation, they are the ones who demanded it of Pacifica. A professional was hired and there had been a mediation session when the GM's extreme lack of judgment degenerated into violent threat, clearly witnessed by a kpfa producer (another woman worker). That's when Pacifica initiated termination proceedings with the LSB (after its own investigation into the threat incident) and further mediation sessions were cancelled. It was clear to all involved that we had to cut our losses. He had crossed the line. It was questionable to many of us whether the mediation would even have resulted in him being able to be a strong and effective GM, he had behaved badly and there was a pattern, but this incident made it clear. We cannot permit our KPFA managers to practice violent intimidation and retaliation and create an atmosphere that is discriminatory. We should not spend further listener money on mediation when it was obviously a mistake to hire this person (he has been here only 8 months and complaints of inappropriate conduct began within weeks of his arrival and continue to this day). Due process is important, but that does not require him to be working in the station while that happens. He should be on leave while the due process plays out. Why isn't he?

Any statement by an anonymous poster concerning what that poster saw or heard is worthless unless it can be independently verified.

It might have some limited value if a known person is willing to vouch for the bona-fides of the person making the anonymous statement, in which case the value of the statement is diluted by depending on both the credibility and good judgement of the person who so vouches.

I don't know anything about the charges against anybody in the the station. I don't know about the sexual harassment that Campanella Jr. alllegedly did. I do know that thementioning of what he did in the past is similar to what Fox news and Matt Dredge are doing to Cindi Sheehan--attacking her and him for past activities and thoughts. So what if RCjr made Baywatch and CS had right-wing opinions,They've changed and grown. Attack these people for something real, not for red herrings from the past.

According to several e-mails that my wife and i received the Kpfa Station board voted yesterday , Aug.14 NOT to fire Roy Campanella . I have also been informed that many of the board members who are often on opposing sides on many other issues voted together against the motion to fire him and that practically all the women there opposed removing him. The Station board is the final decision maker in these matters.It took years of struggle to have a democractic process at KPFA. I hope the staff members who wanted to oust Roy Campanella will accept this decision. Peace now !

To my way of thinking, that's an incredibly bad decision and will lead to nothing but more dissension and ugliness at KPFA for years to come. No foundation and no non-profit organization can thrive without respect for its workers and competent management and this, yes, democratically-elected board has shown that it cares not in the least about either of these things. Like a lot of democratically-elected bodies. All posturing, manipulating, playing to an audience and taking sides for all the wrong reasons. What part of "he's been a bad manager" do they not understand? Pitiful.

So much for saving the station. Everybody kills the thing they claim ot love, huh?

Congratulations to all who voted against firing Roy Campanella. This was obviously the staged attack by agent provocateurs of whom Dennis Bernstein of Flashpoints warned us as this clique of 80 out of 300 (actually a handfull with the rest of the 80 going along to get along) KPFA workers is resisting changes we need at KPFA to both give more political information to the 11 million people in Northern California (and online) and receive greater cash flow from that audience. Campanella made it clear that he is innocent of wrongdoing. The NLRB and DFEH will find the same and it is doubtful this gang will want to pursue this false claim in the expensive court system. This is the second general manager they have tried to toss out and they got the defeat they deserved. We can now move forward to make the changes we need at KPFA.

Great. Now you can move forward with an agenda on the backs of your own employees. Splendid. Sometimes I'm really ashamed of the left. Another world is possible, but it ain't going to happen as long as political agendas are put ahead of treating other people like human beings. No wonder "progressivism" is a disaster area. Talk about a bunch of hypocrites. Democracy - what a laugh. Just like everything else. The "people" vote for the biggest assholes in the world. This claim will be upheld by the state and y'all can pay the penalties. Good use of subscriber dollars.

So where does this information come from?
Source, please.

Given the disinformation on this site over the last few months, those reporting this decision should tell us what their source is.

Bob? Mara? Riva?

I never posted any results here, but I just heard the information on the KPFA noon news headlines - I think the vote was 15 to 5 (& 2 abstentions). Pacifica interim Executive Director Ambrose Lane, it was said, can now either accept that result or pass it on to the Pacifica National Board to vote on. (For more on Ambrose Lane, see Bulletin #14 at
http://www.struggle-and-win.net/ )
I asked the LSB to issue a statement about their deliberations & I hope they soon will.

Remember that what they were probably voting on was whether the GM committed actions which were cause for immediate dismissal ( not whether he is a good fit fot the station). The charge of assault on Weyland Southon is what started this ball rolling, the news report said.

I do agree that this event has caused unneeded dissension, but the problem I see is the basic one of staff not permitting anyone else to share their defacto decision making power at the station. That's why this event was cooked up, plus I believe that the forces of reaction who want radicals off the air were an operative factor, & that this was seen by some as a first step to removing Dennis Bernstein from Flashpoints, & more.
So you one - issue activists, do not jump to conclusions! - this issue is very convoluted -- keep your eyes on the prize - coalition building is like union activism -- coalitions can be welcomed such as that with Marnie over not firing the GM - without damaging important principles!

It is a mistake to view this as a labor issue, or a women's issue, or anything else. These are important issues but not in this instance. For a labor issue, look at how the paid staff cut the unpaid staff out of union protection, & much more, in Maria Gilardin's letter of 8/04:
Yes, this was 1997, but the results are still in effect.

>" When Dennis Bernstein and two others called attention to the 1997
> union contract that was signed as a sweetheart deal with KPFA
> management, they were denounced by staff. Much later, when Nicole
> Sawaya was fired and her firing protested by Larry Bensky, Robbie
> Osman, and Dennis Bernstein, no unified support for Nicole came from > staff who returned to the station without her."

See the full article:
Why did staff inside KPFA not prevent the 10-year corporate raid?
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/08/1702363.php

for the information on the labor issue
(sorry I forgot to add this to my above comment).

I find it highly ironic that you purport Dennis as the defender of workers. As a shop-steward of the IEWU back when they represented KPFA, yeah- the ones that Dennis romantices about now, Dennis was caught trying to make his sweet heart deal with good ole Pat Scott. That union had to remind him that he couldn't do that and had to endure his maligning of the union on the air. Ah, amnesia is a wonderful thing when convenient. I'm sorry your revisionist history isn't jiving with me.

Hey Riv..errMara...

By what magical math do you figure that these 80 people are responsible for something that happened 10 years ago?

And as long as you're trying to smear our workers, why don't you go after the FIVE, including Dennis, that are the only ones left from that era?

Or do you simply assume the entire staff behave as much like sheep as you do?

I am not saying all 8o staff now are responsible for
the acts of 10 years ago, though some of them are! -
but that staff are not necessarily always acting in their
best (union) interests, or even in a unified manner (they
cut off the unpaid staff).
I left in the bit about Sawaya because some are now
making an issue of how much they wanted her back.

As for Dennis Bernstein, you can find some information
on his efforts in behalf of effective union representation
of KPFA staff here:
http://www.radio4all.org/fp/dennis.htm
It seems to contradict your statement, as does Maria's
account, which I linked to - did you read it? She was there,
too.

historian -
You are making allegations about my identity & calling
me a name. I have signed my post, & am not calling anybody
names.
I do believe some of these staff have signed onto things
without having verified them. For example, one whom I
know signed because he did not "like the GM's management
style."
Maria comments on this in the letter I linked to above, as
follows, in fact it is why she wrote the letter:

"NOW, all of a sudden, in July 2004, you are writing a letter claiming
> that the newly elected board -or at least some of the members ? are your
> enemy: http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/08/1700779.php
> Others have dealt with some of the complaints:
> http://indybay.org/news/2004/08/1692265.php
> I am addressing those of you who signed the letter.
>
> I am troubled by the signatures of unpaid staff whom I know, respect,
> and like. Why would you have signed a document that is largely based on
> incidents you did not take part in or witness? I asked some of the
> parties accused and their recollections differ considerably from the
> statements in the staff letter."

My comment: definitely still applicable.