Former Reporter Wants $5 Mil. From Paper

By: Mark Fitzgerald A former Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle reporter filed a $5 million lawsuit against the Gannett paper last week, claiming editors spiked her investigation into the Monroe County District Attorney's office after District Attorney Howard Relin complained to them that the reporter behaved unprofessionally.

Michele Locastro Rivoli, who worked at the D&C from 1996 to September 2002, charges in her lawsuit in federal court that editors told her they were making a "business decision" by ordering her to stop writing about felony cases that were dismissed because the district attorney's office had not acted on them in a timely manner. The suit also indicates she taped conversations with co-workers, and was told to stop by managers.

Rivoli, who could not be reached, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages because the paper ruined her reputation, the lawsuit stated. Thomas Flynn, the D&C's vice president of communications, did not return a phone call for comment.