Federal judge upholds Wendy McCaw’s free press argument

Reporters fired by the Santa Barbara News Press in alleged retaliation for union activity won’t get their jobs back, at least for now, a federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled.

In a 33-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Steven V. Wilson said that 1st Amendment protections afforded to Wendy McCaw, publisher of the News Press, trumped claims that eight reporters were illegally fired for engaging in union activities.

Though the decision means that the employees will not be immediately reinstated, it does not affect a larger case brought against McCaw by the legal division of the National Labor Relations Board, according to union attorney Ira L. Gottlieb.

The fired reporters could still be returned to their jobs and win back pay if the NLRB agrees with an administrative law judge’s findings that they were illegally terminated, Gottlieb said. That case is pending.

McCaw’s attorney, Barry Cappello, could not be reached for comment. But he has previously said that McCaw acted appropriately in her role as publisher and that she would vigorously fight the NLRB’s complaint.

McCaw has been at war with her newsroom since July 2006, when several top editors walked out to protest what they said was her censorship of local news. Dozens of staff members have since left the paper or been fired.

catherine.saillant

@latimes.com