Prosecution rests in News-Press trial

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Proceedings at today’s federal hearing into alleged labor law violations at the Santa Barbara News-Press slowed to a crawl as federal attorneys drew their case to a close.
The most exciting moment of the day came at the opening of the hearing, when federal attorney Steve Wyllie informed the judge that a rambling, incoherent letter mentioning News-Press attorney Barry Cappello had been found attached to a sign in the court parking lot. Although Cappello did not find the letter to be threatening, the security guards at the entrance to the courthouse were notified.

Cappello opened the official proceedings by tying up loose ends among items already in evidence, ensuring that the judge had made note of certain sections in several documents.
Cappello then attempted to question lead union organizer Marty Keegan on Operation Cold Shoulder, a community-based campaign to protest the News-Press formed in 2006. However, after objections from the prosecution, Judge William Kocol ruled that Cappello had no evidence the campaign was linked to the union campaign and sustained the objections.
Cappello also started to delve into the language contained in invitations to a meeting between News-Press advertisers and the unionizing employees, which resulted in a back and forth of objections and arguments between the prosecution and defense, prompting Judge Kocol to chastise both sides for wasting time.
“We are starting to argue about matters that are so remote to the central issues of this case, they probably aren’t worth arguing about,” Judge Kocol said.
News-Press associate editor Scott Steepleton returned to the stand as Wyllie also cleared up a few loose ends related to performance evaluations. Steepleton testified that he didn’t review the 2005 performance evaluations of every employee he reviewed before writing their 2006 evaluations.
Union attorney Ira Gottlieb then brought the court to a standstill as he questioned Steepleton about the newspaper’s policy on firing employees for illegal activity. Steepleton leafed through the News-Press employee handbook looking for language pertaining to illegal activity for 15 minutes as the court sat in silence.
Eventually, Steepleton testified that an employee would not be fired for merely affixing a sign to a footbridge over Highway 101, explaining that the company’s decision to fire an employee would be based on the content of the sign, not that it had been attached to the bridge.
Under cross examination by Cappello, Steepleton said he conducted his 2006 performance reviews of newsroom employees with honesty and accuracy, and did not conduct reviews of pro-union employees any differently.
At that point, the NLRB attorneys rested their case. Judge Kocol announced the lunch break to the visible relief of many in the courtroom. Following lunch, Gottlieb attempted to introduce a stack of documents into the record, most of which were denied by the judge following objections of relevance from Cappello.
However, he did manage to get about four full-page announcements that the News-Press management placed in the newspaper. Gottlieb did not discuss the contents of the announcements, but argued that they show the atmosphere between fired employees and the News-Press management.
Remarks made by employees about the News-Press and its owner and copublisher Wendy McCaw should be weighed against the content of those announcements, Gottlieb said. Earlier in the trial, Cappello introduced a variety of statements made by employees following their dismissal that he is arguing will deny them reinstatement and back pay.
With that, Gottlieb also rested his case and turned the floor over to Cappello, who promptly called Steepleton to the stand again. Steepleton testified that he reviewed the 2005 evaluation of pro-union reporter Rob Kuznia before writing his 2006 evaluation. Cappello then pointed out that Kuznia received a bonus in 2006, an attempt to show that there was no disparate treatment of pro-union employees.
Federal and union attorneys have charged the News-Press with deliberately lowering the evaluation scores of union employees to deny them annual bonuses. News-Press attorneys maintain that evaluations accurately reflected the work performance of employees.
News-Press director of human resources Yolanda Apodaca took the stand next, testifying that complaints about evaluation scores are common, even among non-union employees.
Apodaca testified under questioning from Cappello that there is no progressive discipline policy in place at the newspaper. She also said there is no mention of a separation existing between the opinion and news section in the employee handbook.
During his cross examination, Wyllie attempted to show that several employees fired by the News-Press over the past seven years had received counseling before they were discharged, suggesting the existence of progressive discipline. Apodaca said she did not consider it counseling, but admitted that at least one employee had “serious meetings” with an editor before being fired.
Steepleton is likely to return to the stand tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Bankruptcy Court building on State Street.