Feds Finds Probable Cause of Discrimination Against Two Female Sportswriters

By: A federal agency has determined there is probable cause to believe the work of two female sportswriters at the St. Paul Pioneer Press was scrutinized differently from that of their male colleagues.

In 2003, Cara LaBrie and Robbi Pickeral filed sexual discrimination complaints against the Pioneer Press with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At the time, they were the only female sports reporters at the paper.

LaBrie, Pickeral and their Minneapolis attorney, Steven Smith, declined to comment about the EEOC finding, which was issued two weeks ago. Pioneer Press editor Thom Fladung said, "I believe the Pioneer Press didn't discriminate then, and does not now."

Marshall Anstandig, senior labor and employment counsel for Knight Ridder Inc., the current owner of the Pioneer Press, said the finding "is not a final determination" and that "we vigorously deny any discrimination."

The women also alleged that the newspaper suspended them and demoted Pickeral when they complained about unfair treatment. LaBrie alleged that a sports editor required her to write a story each day, a workload she said was not imposed on other sports reporters.

Pickeral now covers the football and men's basketball teams at the University of North Carolina for the Raleigh News & Observer. LaBrie is now a special-sections editor at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix.