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 [earlier article].
But Hamilton excluded testimony from two of Wente's subordinates and her former 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.
Earlier article
Bias charges hit St. Louis manager
As suit nears trial, ex-employees say Wente discriminated racially
Originally published in Current, Nov. 30, 1992
By John Wilner
A lawsuit against KWMU General Manager Patricia Wente claims she unfairly dismissed an African-American employee, and paints a picture of Wente as a tyrannical administrator.
Winifred Sullivan claims she lost her part-time job as a news announcer at the station because she is black, and that Wente has a history of racially motivated harassment and ethnic slurs. Sullivan says that Wente harassed two other African-American women at the St. Louis station until both quit, and that she tried unsuccessfully to replace the only other African-American working at the station.
The picture of Wente contrasts with that of the energetic young manager and former CPB official who has been elected by her peers to the NPR Board. The charges coincide with the period in which KWMU streamlined its programming--reducing an eclectic mix of programs to concentrate on news/information and classical music.
An equally unflattering portrait of Wente emerged in a November 1991 St. Louis Magazine article, which detailed allegations of Wente's abuse of employees, Machiavellian management tactics, and racist and anti-Semitic remarks. In the article, Wente said the charges come from disgruntled employees who lost their jobs as part of the consolidation and professionalization process she was hired to undertake at KWMU, which is licensed to the University of Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL).
Sullivan's suit further contends that two African-American women who served under Wente at CPB before Wente came to KWMU in August 1989 also quit after being racially harassed, and that Wente also tried to undermine her supervisor at CPB, who also was black.
Sullivan v. Curators of the University of Missouri is scheduled to come to trial in U.S. District Court after Dec. 7 [1992].
Wednesday night massacre
Sullivan was among 19 part-time staff members who lost their jobs after Wente issued a memo June 6, 1990, informing them that, "[i]n keeping with the University procedures, all departments are required to terminate part-time employees on Aug. 31'' of that year. Wente added that KWMU was revising the part-time positions and would post a list of new positions for which former part-time employess could apply.
But St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Joe Pollack later confirmed that UMSL policy merely required departments to evaluate part-time positions, not automatically terminate them. Wente's attorney, Dudley McCarter, said that all part-time employees at the station are on one-year appointments that expire on Aug. 31, and that Wente wrote the memo as a courtesy to part-time staffers to let them know that their appointments might not be renewed.
Sullivan had worked at KWMU as a part-time announcer for three-and-a-half years--first as a volunteer for 18 months, and then as a paid staff member for two years--when Wente issued the memo.
In July 1990, she and seven other part-time staff members wrote their own memo to Wente's boss, UMSL Dean of Arts and Science E. Terrence Jones, questioning the basis for what they said was "mass termination.'' The so-called "Memo Eight'' said they understood the need for restructuring, but that "the manner in which it is being conducted is ill-conceived and mean-spirited,'' and "only serves to further deteriorate the extremely low morale that has existed since Patricia Wente became general manager.''
They requested a meeting with Jones to discuss the termination and other grievances relating to KWMU. Several of those who attended the meeting with Jones agreed that nothing changed as a result of their discussion with him, or with UMSL Chancellor Blanche Touhill. A university representative later issued a statement expressing support for Wente.
Sullivan applied for a newly posted announcer position in August, but was told in a letter that her qualifications did "not match the needs we have for this position.'' She says that KWMU subsequently hired a white woman from outside the station with no paid radio experience to fill the position. In fact, none of the Memo Eight was rehired for the new part-time positions. McCarter denied this had anything to do with their memo or the meeting with Jones.
On Sept. 18, 1990, Sullivan filed a complaint against KWMU with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and asked that it also be filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Later that month she filed a civil suit seeking reinstatement in her position, back pay (estimated at somewhat over $12,000), punitive damages (her original lawyer asked for $500,000, but she expects between $10,000 and $20,000), legal fees (currently around $25,000), and no gag as part of the settlement.
Blacks, lies and audiotape
Henrietta Dowling-Jones, the first of Wente's African-American assistants at CPB to quit, declined to comment on her relationship with Wente. Her replacement, Ingrid Watkins, who is also black, flew to St. Louis Aug. 1 to give a deposition on behalf of Winifred Sullivan.
Her testimony included her seven-page CPB resignation letter, in which she accuses Wente of "lies, deception,...and unprofessionalism...beyond my wildest imagination'' and says that "the harassment, abuse and uncompromising conditions in which I was expected to work'' were "intolerable.''
"It is evident to me that Patty...had a problem relating to me as she did with my predecessor and I feel the problem was a racial one. She has a problem relating to blacks in general,'' Watkins wrote.
Watkins' resignation letter was written to Wente's African-American supervisor, Augustine Dempsey, who gave a telephone deposition on Sullivan's behalf earlier this month. Dempsey could not be reached for comment.
Monica van Hook, the first African-American woman to quit after Wente arrived at KWMU, gave a deposition to McCarter in which she denied that she quit because Wente harassed her, and said that she did not feel that any of Wente's actions were racially motivated. But Paeton Tipton, the second black woman to quit, and others say that van Hook complained to them about Wente before she quit. And Tipton offered her own complaints about Wente in a deposition to Sullivan's attorney.
Several sources also said that Wente offered News Director Bernie Hayes' position to Cathy Lohr, an NPR freelancer who uses KWMU facilities to file her stories, but that Lohr declined the offer. Hayes said he has heard other people complain that Wente is racist, but that she has always treated him "with reverence.''
"I'm a bitch, but I'm a good bitch''
The November 1991 St. Louis Magazine article, written by Joe Bargmann, ran under the startling headline, "I'm a bitch, but I'm a good bitch''--a quote from Wente herself. It reported that she had decimated KWMU's staff, savaged underlings and made offensive remarks about minorities.
The article also said the station was doing poorly under Wente's management--that support from underwriters declined in the first two years of Wente's stewardship, and that average quarter-hour ratings had steadily declined in the same period. It said membership was down, which a KWMU official disputed in the article.
According to station press releases, the situation has improved since Bargmann wrote his article. KWMU's fall 1991 fund drive raised a record amount of money, and its summer 1992 Arbitron ratings were the highest in the station's history. The fall 1992 fund drive, however, had to be extended by two days to meets its goal.
Sullivan's suit notes that Wente did not hire any African-Americans at CPB, and that she hired only one black part-time part-time employee in her first 2.5 years at KWMU--after Sullivan had filed her suit. The station hired five black UMSL students in January 1992, and promoted an African-American news intern to membership assistant in June, and then to membership manager two weeks ago. Sullivan says these recent actions are in response to her suit, and the negative publicity it has generated.
The University of Missouri (UMO) system has been generally criticized for its limited minority presence. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Susan Thomson wrote a series of articles that showed that blacks and other minorities are underrepresented among UMO students and faculty. University officials told Thomson they are taking steps to remedy the deficiencies.
McCarter told Current that the national average for public radio stations is 1.93 full and part-time minority employees, and that with four African-American employees, KWMU is at twice the national average. He denied that any of them were hired because of Sullivan's lawsuit or the attendant publicity.
The most recent resignation occurred just last month, when the president of Friends of KWMU Inc., Fran Leve, chose to voice her objections rather than simply allowing her term to expire six months hence. In a letter to UMSL Chancellor Touhill, Leve likened Wente to Capt. Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny.'' Wente "perceives every suggestion and every offer of help as a personal threat,'' Leve wrote.
Later news: KWMU manager fires news director; two staffers quit, 1998.
Outside link: KWMU's web site.
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