Bargaining unit of Spokane's daily newspaper rejects plan to retain suspended editor Rob Curley

The union strongly objects to any scenario that would allow Rob Curley to have a say in any future hiring and firing decisions of newspaper staff. That includes Curley's vote as a board member to decide the fate of the executive editor position that he once occupied.”

Thomas Clouse, president of the Spokane Editorial Society

The Spokane Editorial Society, the collective bargaining unit for nonexempt employees of The Spokesman-Review, strongly objects to the current conditions for the proposed transfer of the newspaper to new nonprofit ownership on Oct. 30.

Publisher William “Stacey” Cowles, whose family has owned The Spokesman-Review for 129 years, agreed last year to transfer ownership of the paper to the non-profit Comma Community Journalism Lab, which was founded by the paper’s soon-to-be-former executive editor, Rob Curley.

Curley created Comma to help preserve the newspaper for a new generation, even in an era where print journalism struggles financially. We believe in this mission.

But Curley's 10-year tenure with the newspaper has been nothing but challenging for the journalists in the newsroom. Reporters both past and present recently highlighted just a handful of those concerns in recent reporting. 

The situation came to a head in August when Cowles suspended Curley with pay after he tried to fire a union member following a verbal altercation with a Comma employee who was not allowed to edit Spokesman-Review copy or oversee our members. An internal investigation was launched.

The union recently learned that the investigation, led by an attorney hired by Cowles, found no "harassment or discrimination” by Curley.

Comma board leadership recently informed the union that Curley would no longer serve as executive editor and would have no further role leading the newspaper. However, the board intends to give him the new title of director of philanthropy. Board leadership stressed that this is not a demotion nor a disciplinary action. 

In his new role, Curley would also continue to manage Northwest Passages, the book club and live journalism series that is regularly covered or hosted by Spokesman-Review reporters. 

Curley also retains a voting seat on the board. 

We strongly reject this decision. Scores of current and former employees showed the courage to either speak with investigators hired by Cowles Publishing or give quotes to local media about their adverse interactions with Curley over his 10-year tenure as editor. Those statements carry weight.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the union approved a vote of no confidence for the Comma Journalism Labs Board of Directors, if the board decides to retain Rob Curley in any capacity. The vote was unanimous among members present.

Before the end of Friday, union leadership communicated the results of this vote to board attorney George Brunt, who recently assumed the position of president and chair of the Comma board, in the hopes that the board would change its mind. On Monday, Brunt indicated the organization still intended to move Curley into the new leadership role. 

The union strongly objects to any scenario that would allow Rob Curley to have a say in any future hiring and firing decisions of newspaper staff. That includes Curley's vote as a board member to decide the fate of the executive editor position that he once occupied. 

We have been assured that he will be barred from these processes. We have also been assured there will be no reprisal from Curley.

But verbal assurances are useless, especially since so many have already been broken in this process.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the union also unanimously approved a vote of full confidence in Acting Executive Editor Lindsey Treffry, who has assumed that role during Curley’s suspension.

We know full well that a board, whose initial members were chosen by Curley, can say that he has no role in editorial or personnel decisions only to decide at a later time to reinstate him into the very role where he created a hostile work environment. We have asked for a voting seat on that board.

Any organization that chooses to put Curley in a paid role must be willing to provide written protections against retaliation in any form, either directly or indirectly, from Curley following the transfer. 

Additionally, we've learned that severance will not be available to employees who choose not to transfer to an organization that has failed for months to provide even the basic details of what employees can expect. 

That lack of detail includes an organizational flow chart. At this late hour, the SES still has not been provided written confirmation about who holds hiring and firing authority at Comma Journalism Labs. 

The SES wants to also thank community members who donated to support local journalism. Curley worked to preserve journalism jobs and worked as an advocate for the profession. We thank him for that advocacy.  

We agree that journalism is worth saving. We, the nonexempt members of The Spokesman-Review, are the workers who provided the stories, photographs, editing and design that Curley promoted to secure that support.

For many in this newsroom, our jobs are our lives. The work extends far beyond normal office hours. The pay for most employees falls well below the median hourly wage in Spokane.

Yet we, and our mission, remain. We value truth, integrity and accountability. We work to secure the same from private and public officials. 

However, we cannot in good conscience further condone any working relationship with someone who treated employees so poorly.

Thomas Clouse is president of the Spokane Editorial Society.