Ex-Santa Barbara News-Press Editor Gets $748K to Cover Legal Fees in Battle With Publisher
An arbitrator handling a years-long employment dispute between a former Santa Barbara News-Press editor and his publisher has awarded the ex-editor $748,022 mainly to cover his legal costs.
The arbitrator rejected claims by the publisher’s company—Ampersand Publishing—that editor Jerry Roberts violated his employment contract after he resigned in 2006 and complained publicly about interference from News-Press owner Wendy McCaw, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Roberts’ resignation was followed by similar moves from editors, reporters and photographers at the paper. The remaining employees voted to unionize.
Arbitrator Deborah Rothman also rejected a claim by Roberts that he was wrongfully terminated. Rothman declined to award damages to Roberts or McCaw, but determined Roberts was the prevailing party, entitling him to legal fees.
McCaw has filed a motion in Santa Barbara County Superior Court to vacate the arbitrator’s decision, which also ordered Ampersand to pay $167,515 in arbitration costs. Both parties had agreed to participate in binding arbitration to resolve their dispute.
In her 68-page ruling, Rothman reportedly explained in detail why she selected Roberts as the prevailing party, the Santa Barbara Independent reports.
Rothman wrote that Ampersand pursued its objectives in arbitration in a “scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners, go-for-broke fashion … to punish Roberts for Ampersand’s public drubbing,” the Independent noted.
She concluded that McCaw failed to demonstrate that Roberts had violated the terms of his confidentiality agreement with the News-Press or that he defamed her.
Rothman further opined, “What Ampersand probably wishes Roberts had signed is a nondisparagement agreement. Ampersand cannot retroactively prevent Roberts from disparaging Mrs. McCaw or the News-Press.”
