Name(s) and address(es) of the person(s) and/or establishment you believe to have violated your civil
rights.

The Pacifica Foundation Management and the Executive Committee of the Pacifica Foundation Board of
Directors under the direction of:

Mary Frances Berry , Chair Person of the Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors
c/o United States Commission on Civil Rights 624 Ninth Street NW #700
Washington DC 20425

Lynn Chadwick, Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation Pacifica Foundation
1929 Martin Luther King Junior Way
Berkeley CA 94704

Garland Ganter,
General Manager, KPFT Houston
419 Lovett Blvd.
Houston, TX 77006

A DESCRIPTION OF THE VIOLATIONS.
This should include the date and place of the action(s), and what you believe to be the basis for violation.

The pattern of Pacifica Foundation management's violations of civil rights has escalated dramatically since
June 1997 when Mary Frances Berry became the Chairperson of the Pacifica Board of Directors, during
the period when Lynn Chadwick was the interim General Manager of KPFA in 1997, and since
October of 1998 when Lynn Chadwick was selected by the Pacifica Board of Directors to be the
Executive Director of Pacifica. The events described below constitute a pattern of actions which, taken
together, have violated the civil rights of KPFA station staff, volunteers, apprentices and community
members. Violations took place at the Pacifica Foundation, 1929 Martin Luther King Junior Way,
Berkeley CA 94704 or in the station offices next door.

In December of 1997, acting as General Manager of KPFA, Lynn Chadwick fired Bari Scott, founder
and long-time head of the Third World Department, and a nationally recognized public affairs and music
producer and programmer.

In December of 1998, due to the management process and decisions of Lynn Chadwick, Lawrence
Shorter, who had been hired by KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya as KPFA's first
African-American program director, quit the day after Lynn Chadwick fired Larry Bensky from his
position on the Living Room program. (Bensky's first firing.)

On March 31, 1999, acting with the support of Board Chair Mary Frances Berry, Lynn Chadwick
refused to renew the contract of the KPFA station manager Nicole Sawaya a Lebanese American
woman.

On April 9, 1999, acting with the support of Board Chair Mary Frances Berry, Lynn Chadwick fired
Larry Bensky for discussing Chadwick's firing of Sawaya.

On June 18, 1999, acting with the support of Board Chair Mary Frances Berry, Lynn Chadwick fired
Robbie Osman, accusing him of having "forfeited" his" access to KPFA/Pacifica airwaves" for discussing
the firing of Sawaya.

In June of 1999, Sheryl Flowers, co-host of the Morning Show, quit saying that the current Pacifca
Board and management including Berry and Chadwick had created a "toxic" >environment at KPFA
where she could no longer do her job

On June 21, 1999, Lynn Chadwick made citizens arrests of 14 people for protesting peacefully in front
of the Pacifica Foundations national office.

On or about June 22, 1999, Mary Frances Berry contacted persons in the Justice Department of the
United States and as a result a United States Department of Justice staffer from the COPS Program
questioned the Berkeley Police Chief Dash Butler about the Berkeley Police Department's apparent
reluctance to arrest the demonstrators.

On June 27, 1999, acting with the support of Board Chair Mary Frances Berry, Lynn Chadwick hired
armed guards from the security company, IPSA whose presence in the station was aimed at intimidating
and harrassing staff, volunteers and community members.

On July 13, 1999, Garland Ganter, KPFT manager acting under the direction of Lynn Chadwick and
Mary Frances Berry ordered armed guards to eject KPFA producer and reporter, Dennis Bernstein,
from the KPFA building for broadcasting material he and C.S. Soong produced that revealed that the
Pacifica Board was considering the sale of KPFA.

On the same day, Garland Ganter, KPFT manager acting under the direction of Lynn Chadwick and
Mary Frances Berry ordered the police to arrest station staff, volunteers and community members.

On July 14, 1999, acting with the support of Board Chair Mary Frances Berry, Lynn Chadwick and
Garland Ganter locked the station staff out of their workplace. Further, Lynn Chadwick and other
Pacifica management not currently known ordered the censorship of Pacifica Program Democracy Now
which covered the events of July 13, 1999. Station staff, volunteers and listeners were deprived of
community radio for 23 days.

In summary, we believe the above described actions: unjustifiable termination of contracts; unfair firings;
censorship of broadcasts; acts of intimdation by armed guards; the ordering of the use of police force
against peaceful protestors; arrests of station staff, volunteers and community members; and the
unjustifiable shutdown of community broadcasting at KPFA for 23 days, constitute a violation of our civil
rights.

Name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s) of persons filing complaint:
J. Imani -- KPFA Local Advisory Board Member
Nick Alexander -- KPFA Programmer
Kirsten Thomas -- KPFA Programmer
Mary Berg -- KPFA Local Advisory Board Member and Programmer
Carrie Core -- KPFA programmer

WITNESSES AND PERSONS WITH INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMPLAINT

The pattern of Pacifica Foundation management's violations of civil rights has escalated dramatically since
June 1997 when Mary Frances Berry became the Chairperson of the Pacifica Board of Directors, during
the period when Lynn Chadwick was the interim General Manager of KPFA in1997, and since October
of 1998 when Lynn Chadwick was selected by the Pacifica Board of Directors to be the Executive
Director of Pacifica. The events described below constitute a pattern of actions which, taken together,
have violated the civil rights of KPFA station staff, volunteers, apprentices and community members.
Violations took place at the Pacifica Foundation, 1929 Martin Luther King Junior Way, Berkeley CA
94704 or in the station offices next door.

Actions which constitute this pattern include: unjustifiable termination of contracts; unfair firings;
censorship of broadcasts; acts of intimdation by armed guards; the ordering of the use of police force
against peaceful protestors; arrests of station staff, volunteers and community members; and the
unjustifiable shutdown of community broadcasting at KPFA for 23 days.

The following persons were witnesses to or have information bearing on, one or more of the events
described in the body of this complaint.

Name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s) of any person(s) with information concerning your
complaint.
 

Over 30 witnesses signed the complaint, including: Kris Welch -- KPFA Programmer
Mike Alcalay -- former KPFA Programmer
Tracy Rosenberg -- Administrative Director, Media Alliance