Judge clears Wente of racial discrimination charges

Originally published in Current, Jan. 18, 1993
By John Wilner

A federal judge ruled Dec. 23 [1992] that Patricia Wente, g.m. of KWMU, St. Louis, did not discriminate against an African-American employee who was fired along with 18 other part-time staff members and then not rehired.

U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton described the circumstances as "a very difficult personnel situation," but said she did not believe that news announcer Winifred Sullivan had proved that Wente's action were motivated by racial bias.

Sullivan sued the station licensee — the University of Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL) — in June 1991, claiming that Wente's actions had violated federal civil rights laws. As part of her suit, she attempted to show a pattern of discriminatory behavior on Wente's part, both at KWMU and in her previous position at CPB.

But Hamilton excluded testimony from two of Wente's subordinates and her supervisor at CPB, as well as evidence of alleged anti-Semitic remarks at KWMU, saying they were not relevant to the case. She also ruled that the federal statute under which Sullivan was suing did not entitle her to a jury trial.

Wente told Current she was elated by the verdict and "proud to manage a station where the licensee supports the actions necessary to create a state-of-the-art public radio station in the '90s." She said that Sullivan was dismissed as part of an overall reform of KWMU, and that accusations of racism were retribution from former employees who were disgruntled that they'd lost their jobs.

Sullivan described the verdict as a "very disappointing outcome," and said Hamilton is also racist because she seemed to have decided how she would rule from the outset, and ignored evidence that Sullivan felt was compelling. Sullivan's attorney, Samuel Liberman, filed a motion last week that will allow her to bring the suit in state court, but said she may be willing to forego that option if UMSL waives roughly $5,000 in court costs that Sullivan, as the loser, is required to pay.

Tried for settlement

The one-week trial consisted primarily of testimony by witnesses for the defense. But Liberman said the unexpected loss of the jury the evening before the trial and the subsequent exclusion of testimony about Wente's tenure at CPB made the case much more difficult to present.

“Judges are more defendant-minded" in civil suits than criminal cases, he said, noting that most are former lawyers and many tend to be conservative, particularly in regard to discrimination cases. Juries, on the other hand, "identify with the human aspect" of discrimination, Liberman said, and are usually more sympathetic to the plaintiff.

But UMSL attorney Dudley McCarter said Sullivan lost because the bulk of her case was "gossip, rumors, inferences and inconsistencies," and she simply "failed to make a prima facie case of discrimination." On the other hand, said McCarter, the university offered "overwhelming, credible evidence that there was a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for [Sullivan's] termination." Given the two cases, the judge's ruling made perfect sense, he said.

Both sides said they discussed terms for an out-of-court settlement throughout the period of the lawsuit, including the morning of trial. Though they made progress on reaching a financial agreement, they "just couldn't close the gap," Sullivan said, and the university refused to reinstate her, which she demanded as part of the settlement.

“The right to manage”

Wente says that Sullivan's dismissal was part of her efforts to reform KWMU, and was not motivated by racial bias. She said that when she arrived at the station in August 1989, it was 10 years behind in terms of programming, finances and staff organization. Its audience and fundraising levels were substandard, and the station lacked an "overall broad vision" of its mission.

Consultants Peter Dominowski and Dale Ouzts separately advised Wente on how to reform KWMU and confirmed her appraisal of the station. Both said KWMU was performing poorly in a major market, and seemed to be adrift. Dominowski said there was no one in charge of the station overall and no program director, and a "fairly large part-time and student population." Ouzts said he recommended to Wente that she terminate them and consolidate their money for full-time staff members.

Wente said the situation required her to make "tough decisions" that were "painful" for all concerned. "You can't make everyone happy," she said. "You just have to focus on the mission and do what it takes to strive for excellence." She said that reorganizing the staff and streamlining the programming into two or three formats were in the best interests of the listeners.

Wente said her three predecessors either resigned or were forced to leave after outcries from KWMU staff about their attempts to change the station, and they "tried to have the fourth man in a row planted." She said that charges of racism and abusive managerial practices were part of that effort.

Dominowski said that, while he is not familiar with the details of Sullivan's accusations, Wente's actions could all be justified on purely programmatic grounds, and have nothing to do with racial discrimination.

Ouzts said the hardest part in station reform is the interim phase, when drastic changes have been made but the gains from those changes have not been realized. He said that three months may have been too much notice of dismissal, because it allowed those who “had little to lose” to mount a campaign against her.

The 1990s are an era of budget cutbacks at a lot of stations, Wente explained, and consequently there have been and will continue to be a number of age, race and sex discrimination suits filed by those who lose their jobs. Fighting these suits is important, she said, because "it's about the right to manage."

Wente said that in her own case, the process was agonizing, and she felt particularly hamstrung by UMSL's policy against commenting on ongoing litigation, but believes that she made great strides for her fellow managers attempting reforms around the country, and hopes that their institutions will support them as UMSL did her.