RETALIATION: Reporters Win Retaliation Suit against Santa Barbara Newspaper Publisher

August 12, 2011

Santa Barbara- Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, has been found guilty of retaliation five years after she was sued by reporters.

The National Labor Relations Board sided with journalists who claimed that they were fired when they formed a union after the management inappropriately interfered with the newspaper’s story coverage.

The five-year battle started after around 15 editors, photographers, and reports quit, alleging that the owner tried to influence the process of news gathering. Editorial workers who stayed in the company formed a union.

Reports said the union then discouraged the readers from buying the newspaper if Mccaw failed to meet the demands of the workforce.

The board determined that the employer is guilty of different violations such as giving unsatisfactory evaluations to at least four union members while terminating eight others.