An old editor of mine once said that before you launch on a story, always check the morgue. Last night, I failed that sage advice in my post on Randy Michaels. Luckily, I have readers more astute in their researching who have alerted me to this delicious clip which mentions our Dear Leader.
Right here at our own Los Angeles Times, we did a story in 2003 about a series of sex harassment suits filed against Clear Channel Communications, where Randy was top dog. Various lawsuits alleged that unnamed senior executives would send porno pictures to female employees ("You have been tagged by the Great Jugs" read one) and solicit prostitutes while on company business.
Then there are specific allegations about Randy. Women who slept with Randy got promoted, the lawsuit alleged. Randy himself was sometimes spotted roaming the newsroom with a "flexible rubber penis" tied around his neck, according to another former employee.
TellZell sure would like to know whatever happened to that lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2003. And whatever happened to the accuser, Karen Childress, former senior vice president of Premiere Radio Networks. Childress said she had "firsthand" knowledge of some of the acts.
These past allegations make the Zellots most recent round of frat house antics seem a little more disturbing. You'll recall Sam rattling off by heart the name of strip clubs in Houston while visiting a Tribune owned television television there. And the corporate press release from Kim Johnson, the Senior Vice President who took pains to note that she had once worked as a waitress at "Knockers -The Place for Hot Racks and Cold Brews." And, of course, Sam swearing at poor Sara Farjado, an Orlando Sentinel photographer who later quit.
The Retch deplores political correctness. But of course there's a line between an innocuous remark and a pattern of denigration and condescending behavior. And if any of this stuff is true, it would seem like a pretty hostile work environment to me.
Write the Retch if you have your own examples, or if you've already hired your own attorney.
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13 comments:
Tell me you weren't wondering how old Ben Homel came up with the name Randy. Talk about truth in advertising.
Maybe this is the story behind all the T&A on the web since Randy Randy took over as copublisher.
Those Laker Girls bouncing for two weeks now? Today's down-low feature on the Anaheim club? Guess the photog chiefs want to keep their jobs.
lawsuit filed in LA against Michaels????.. let's put our court reporters on it.....oh yeah, do we have one?
You might be interested in this recent story by an esteemed former Newsday colleague, Carol Eisenberg, on Muckety.com:
http://news.muckety.com/2008/07/18/randy-michaels-built-a-radio-empire-but-does-he-have-a-plan-for-newspapers/4161
"TellZell sure would like to know whatever happened to that lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2003."
Case #BC305180 filed 10/29/2003. Dismissed after private settlement mid-2004.
Congratulations Retch, you just opened yourself up to a lawsuit, since you posted the full version of a copyrighted story wholesale. Though I'm sure LAT legal staff are busy with other matters these days.
Is it the lurid behavior that bothers you or that it is associated with Zell? Something tells me that you folks at the LAT never told us the truth about things like this. Instead, thanks to people like you, we ended up with these folks getting married, adopting children and persecuting the Boy Scouts.
Be honest, did the penis really bother you? I doubt it.
I'm sorry to hear you're going through tough times. Maybe if you had been there for us, we would be there for you.
wretch-- a poor, miserable, suffering person.
retch- a verb meaning to throw up.
this has to mean something, but I'm too dumb to figure out what. :-)
Check out "Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio" by Alex Foege for more details on sexual harassment suits, strange behavior etc.
Right on, Retch!
Stay strong.
I would prefer to see people attack the Zell crowd based on the merits of their business decisions...all this baloney about their some ribad behavior is trivial...Who cares? Is someone is such a weenie they can't take some ribald humor, then they do not belong in a newsroom...or anywhere outside a church....
I cannot imagine why Tribue employees havenot hired a tough attorney, a Roy Cohn type, to review the ESOP...usually there are flaws in the structuring and administration of such ESOPs
Roy Cohn would have worked for Zell. Tribune employees aren't going to put up their own money for legal fees.
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