By: Joe Strupp The serious soap opera of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press appears to be taking a new twist, with word that the embattled paper's owners have taken legal action against former Editor Jerry Roberts for $500,000, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a short item published today, the Times cites sources at the paper as saying the claim had been filed with an arbitrator "as required in Roberts' employment contract. It accuses him of breach of contract and causing damage to the News-Press."
Roberts responded this afternoon with an e-mail statement that declared, in part, "I categorically deny any wrongdoing alleged in this arbitration demand. I consider this action by the News-Press nothing more than an attempt to silence me and to threaten my family's financial future in retaliation for speaking out about ethics at the paper."
The legal action is the latest in a string of activities at the paper, owned by local resident Wendy McCaw, which began with the resignation of Roberts and five other editors in early July. Since then, at least 14 employees have left, many claiming McCaw has meddled in newsroom decisions.
Remaining employees have sought representation by a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, while also filing an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. Several days ago, Newspaper officials filed their own NLRB complaint.
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