RADIO

A Pittsburgh radio news director won $8,000 in severance pay from her former employers, the management of WBZZ-FM, after she was fired for walking off the job over on-air sexist jokes targeted at her by two WBZZ deejays. Arbitrator Ronald F. Talarico said various sex-related jokes made about newscaster Liz Randolph “were lewd, offensive, sophomoric, in bad taste and beyond anything that an employee should have to be subjected to,” and ordered the station to pay her 10 weeks’ salary, plus interest. The station fired her and refused to give her severance pay, saying her walk-off broke collective bargaining agreements with her union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. A spokesman for WBZZ said Monday the station plans to appeal. A civil suit, filed by Randolph against the deejays and station management, is still pending.