KPFA Workers File Complaints of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Threats, Retaliation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, August 11, 2005

KPFA Workers File Complaints of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Threats, Retaliation

BERKELEY, CA – Today workers at KPFA are contacting the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the National Labor Relations Board to file complaints against the station's General Manager, Roy Campanella II, for sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination, threatened violence, repeated violation of workers' right to organize, and retaliation.

Eight KPFA women are filing with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to protest sexual harassment by Campanella, as well as a persistent pattern of discrimination based on gender, and the creation of a hostile workplace for women at the station. Those who turned down his sexual advances have been retaliated against through public belittlement, threats to cut funding, criticism of their work to their supervisors, slander, and threats of termination. Sexual harassment is illegal under state and federal law.

"We’ve exhausted all channels within the station and have been left with no alternative but to go to the appropriate state agencies. We care deeply about the well-being of KPFA, but the law guarantees us a safe, harassment-free workplace and neither KPFA nor Pacifica is acting to protect the workers at the station. It’s ironic, given KPFA's commitment to social justice," said union steward Lisa Ballard. Over 75 KPFA workers have signed a statement that they have no confidence in the Campanella's ability to manage the station.

"The General Manager started to engage in unprofessional and inappropriate behavior with me almost as soon as he began his employment," said senior manager Lemlem Rijio. "He asked me inappropriate questions, made suggestive and personal remarks, and forced me to hold private meetings with him, despite my objections, making me extremely uncomfortable. Once I made it clear that I was not going to flirt, laugh at dirty jokes, or be intimidated, the GM started to retaliate against me daily--with threats of termination, harassment, slander, as well as hostile and discriminatory treatment."

KPFA Training Co-Director Rain Geesler said that Campanella asked her out within weeks of his being hired last November. When she turned him down and complained about it to a coworker he started treating her in an "unprofessional, intimidating and aggressive manner." "Ever since that incident, the interactions with the general manager have been highly stressful, and even retaliatory," she said.

"I was asked out three times by Roy Campanella, despite my repeated refusals," said another woman worker who is filing with the DFEH. "The first time he asked me to dinner he was told that it was unethical behavior. The third time, I told him that it was inappropriate because he is a manager and I am his subordinate. His response was to ask if there was a way around that fact."

Additionally, the employee's union is filing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of seven male and female staff members for Campanella's violation of labor law and the contract between KPFA management and Communications Workers of America Local 9415. Fourteen weeks ago, on May 5th, Campanella threatened Weyland Southon, Executive Producer of Hard Knock Radio, with violence, and followed him out to the sidewalk to fight. The union demanded at the time that KPFA and its parent organization, Pacifica, provide the staff at the station with a safe work environment. Despite this, both Pacifica and KPFA's Local Station Board have failed to take action, and have dragged out deliberations about the General Manager's misdeeds over the past three and a half months.

The union is also calling on the NLRB to investigate Campanella's multiple violations of KPFA workers' right to associate freely and to organize. "When women workers met to discuss the pattern of gender-based discrimination and harassment at the station, the general manager attempted to intimidate workers, including me, into revealing who was present at those meetings," said shop steward Sasha Lilley. In one instance, Campanella tried to keep a union steward from reporting to Pacifica that he had threatened a worker with violence.

KPFA is the oldest listener-supported radio station in the United States. For more information go to http://www.kpfaworker.org