Posted on 06/15/2005 11:36:15 AM PDT by rface
INDIANAPOLIS: Two former editorial writers at The Indianapolis Star have gone to court, charging that top newsroom managers "consistently and repeatedly demonstrated ... a negative hostility toward Christianity."
James Patterson and Lisa Coffey have sued the newspaper and its owner, Gannett Co., claiming religious, racial and age discrimination. in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.
The two are asking to be reinstated at the paper, and be compensated for lost income, benefits, emotional distress and unspecified punitive damages.
"Lisa and I aren't the only employees that have been driven away from this company and we thought it was time for someone to say 'Goodness gracious. This isn't right,'" Patterson said.
Patterson began work at the newspaper in 1989 and was fired May 5, the lawsuit said. Coffey resigned from the Star in October 2003 after she was relieved of her duties and was transferred to the paper's copy desk.
In their lawsuit, the two allege Star Editor Dennis Ryerson said editorials perceived as proselytizing or containing Christian overtones could not be printed in the paper.
Al Zoibi, vice president of human resources at The Star, said the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had investigated and dismissed the charges made by both Patterson, 51, who is black, and Coffey, 46, who is white.
"We do not discriminate," Zoibi said in a statement.
Both former staffers claim to have "strong and sincere Christian religious beliefs."
I am a subscriber and live in Indianapolis and read the editorial column a lot. I do not recall ever being offended by any religious statements. Still, I would like a lot more details prior to my forming any opnion on this. I like the Indy Star. It is a good paper.
I will give all the benefit and assume that we do not yet have the whole story.
Scott Swan/Eyewitness News WTHR channel 13 - Indianapolis
(Note: The Indianapolis Star is a newsgathering partner with Eyewitness News)
Indianapolis, June 14 - The state's largest newspaper faces a lawsuit from two former editorial writers. They claim The Indianapolis Star discriminated against them for their religious beliefs.
When you open the editorial page of The Indianapolis Star you get opinions.
But, veteran editorial writer James Patterson says opinions about his own religious beliefs cost him his job.
Patterson's attorney is John Price. "James Patterson ran into this problem when he wrote an editorial and asked people to pray for the Iraqi war and one of the new persons assigned by Gannett said that the use of the word 'prayer' in an editorial offended him."
Lisa Coffey, a member of the Star editorial department, says she was demoted to the copy desk because of her religious beliefs. She says her problems began after the newspaper ran her series on sodomy.
Both Coffey and Patterson filed a federal lawsuit against The Star .
Patterson says, "This is America. We have the right, under the first amendment, to express those views. At a newspaper, which has had a conservative voice for years and years and years, our argument is we should be allowed to express those views without being persecuted."
The Indianapolis Star wouldn't comment on camera. It did issue a written statement. "As a matter of policy, we don't discuss personnel issues. But, I will tell you since I know this is public information, that both of these former employees filed EEOC charges against us. The EEOC investigated the complaints and dismissed them. We do not discriminate."
Patterson says it goes further than just two people. "The Star not only discriminated against me, but they actually have waged a campaign people with strong Christian beliefs. Both of us were editorial board members and we should have the right, Scott. We should have the right to express our religious views, especially as opinion writers. That's what opinions are for right?"
Patterson and Coffey have won national awards. Their latest performance reviews seem to be glowing. Patterson was fired. Coffey resigned. Both say they want their jobs back.
Dan Quayle let America down, by letting the sale of his family newspapers happen!
Which Indiania paper wrote the artical last week so that we could reverence Islam.
Could they please provide an example of a positive hostility toward Christianity? Don't mean to nitpick, but one would hope for better from professional writers.
I suspect mssrs Patterson & Coffey would have a better chance of success if they claimed the Star wouldn't allow them to take a prayer rug to staff meetings.
I refuse to subscribe to the Indy Star. Since being purchased by Gannett, they have become a much more liberal paper, even stooping to endorse Julia Carson last year.
It is not a good paper.
If these writers were islamic, they would never have been let go.
Barf! You've got to be kidding! She is the dumbest Rat in the entire House of Representatives. When we lived in Indy, we stopped the paper right after Gannett took over.
From what I've seen on this post, these folks don't have a very good case. It sounds like the paper didn't want them to make explicitly religious appeals on the editorial page, and that seems to me to be a reasonable policy for a secular newspaper directed to a general audience.
Ah, I see. The "Q" word with Lisa. Can't say anything nasty about sodomites.
Ah, but then this post does not tell the whole story. Over the last several years the OP/ED page of the Indy Star has very regularly featured articles by a wide variety writers, including Jewish, muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc., and many have contained thoughts and opinions that were very specific to the religious background of the writer. From what I have seen, these excellent writers have been singled out because of their Christianity.
I won't pay to have the paper in my house.
I think an editorial is just what it is: an opinion, and it shouldn't matter that one's religious views would be expressed.
As for prayer requests offending the so-called secular audience, 70% of Americans report that they believe in God.
James Patterson was one of the few conservatives left on the Star editorial board (the others being Tim Swarens, and Russ Pulliam). Apparently, Dennis Ryerson and Dan Carpenter didn't think that he fit the paper's new agenda.
So, I'll support the Star. But if it should turn out these two have standing based on some law Gannett pubs had supported, I won't cry too hard.
Any paper that would endorse Julia Carson deserves to be litigated out of business.
I used to work at the Star back in '89-90 right when Patterson got there and right before I went to law school. He seemed like a good guy. We've talked about my current case against American Tower in the past several months. I remember the paper being pretty darned conservative as most papers actually are (Pulliams/Quayles owned it) contrary to the ramblings of most conservatives, so I'll have to watch the evidence unfold to see whaddup.
-c
www.christopherkingesq.com
It is heavily involved on pushing a liberal agenda. I can guarantee you that tomorrow's Father's Day features will contain NO traditional fathers, but rather a couple of gay guys who have adopted, a grandfather raising kids after his son/daughter was sentenced to prison, and a story about a woman raising children while her husband serves in Iraq.
The Star is the only paper in Indianapolis, and they control the political news for the state. I sincerely believe Mitch Daniels won the governorship by bypassing the Star and taking an RV to almost every small town in Indiana. Had he conducted a traditional campaign, he would have probably lost.
This news doesn't surprise me a bit. The fact that the fanatical leftist Dan Carpenter is still employed by them tells me all I need to know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.