Santa Barbara newspaper’s fired workers lose court appeal

Santa Barbara News-Press journalists fired in a dispute with the publisher over control of the paper’s news content lost a round in court Tuesday when a federal appeals panel declined to order them reinstated.

FOR THE RECORD:
Newsroom dispute: An article in Business on Jan. 27 about a legal battle between the publisher and fired journalists at the Santa Barbara News-Press did not make clear that an appeals court ruling against reinstating the dismissed employees was an interim decision. The headline erred in saying that the fired employees had lost their bid for reinstatement. Final disposition of their case remains on appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington. —

The 2-1 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was a legal victory for News-Press owner and Publisher Wendy McCaw in her ongoing battle with employees who contend her intrusions damage the paper’s journalistic integrity.

The employees’ dispute with McCaw became public in the summer of 2006, when five top editors resigned to protest what she characterized as efforts to correct biased reporting.

Dozens more journalists left over the next year and circulation dropped as writers and editors urged readers to cancel their subscriptions to show support for editorial independence.

After journalists joined a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and eight were fired, the union complained to the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices.

The eight employees won a ruling by an NLRB judge, who said the 1st Amendment didn’t preclude collective bargaining over “conduct that employees believe undermines their credibility as journalists.”

McCaw appealed, and the employees’ attempt to be reinstated was rebuffed by U.S. District Judge Steven V. Wilson. He said McCaw’s 1st Amendment protections trumped the labor issues.

The 9th Circuit panel agreed.

Judges Richard R. Clifton and Milan D. Smith Jr., both appointees of President George W. Bush, said the journalists organized within the Teamsters “to block or limit the influence of the owner and publisher of the News-Press over the content of the news sections of the paper and to focus that authority in the employees themselves, as reporters and editors.”

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, appointed by President Clinton, said that reinstating the fired employees wouldn’t infringe on the publisher’s free speech rights.

Nashville attorney Michael Zinser, speaking for McCaw, said the 9th Circuit ruling was a vindication of her actions.

Ira L. Gottlieb, a Glendale attorney who represented the union, said he remained confident the labor board would ultimately side with the employees.

carol.williams@latimes.com