from the Oakland Tribune

An Oakland man claims he was fired from a Berkeley-based foundation that owns radio stations across the nation because he blew the whistle on another employee's misuse of federal grant funds.

Matthew Binder filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court against Pacifica Foundation, which owns the listener-sponsored Bay Area radio station KPFA-FM 94.1.

Binder's suit says he had worked for Pacifica since 1984, producing hundreds of news reports and several documentaries for broadcast on KPFA or other Pacifica-owned stations.

He claims that in 1993 he developed an idea for radio documentaries about genetics, so he and Barinetta Scott -- another Pacifica employee -- sought federal grants to create the programs. From 1994 to 1996, they were awarded more than $1 million -- the largest block of programming grants the station ever received for a single project.

But in 1996, the suit claims, Binder discovered Scott had overpaid herself from the grant money, improperly spent grant money on matters unrelated to the project, and kept false books to cover up her misuse of funds.

He reported this to the foundation's management and board of directors, and to the National Science Foundation and the federal Department of Energy. The suit claims when Pacifica discovered in December that Binder had alerted federal authorities, the foundation fired him on a vague false pretext of poor performance.

Binder seeks punitive damages against Pacifica and compensation for lost wages, emotional distress and expenses.

In a news release, attorney Robert Lazo said Binder also hopes the suit will result in return of the allegedly misappropriated money.

Lazo said Wednesday that Scott remained a Pacifica employee in December, but he is not sure if she still is there.

Pacifica spokesman Burton Glass wouldn't comment on any other aspect of the case Wednesday, saying the foundation had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Glass said in addition to its flagship KPFA, Pacifica operates four other stations -- in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston and Los Angeles -- and has an affiliate and subscriber network of about 50 stations nationwide.

A radio journalist who filed a "whistleblower" lawsuit against his former employer this week used the threat of complaints to federal authorities as a bargaining ploy during contract negotiations last year, the employer's spokesman said Thursday.

Matthew Binder of Oakland filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court claiming the Berkeley-based Pacifica Foundation, which owns the listener-sponsored Bay Area radio station KPFA-FM 94.1, fired him last year because he informed authorities of alleged misuse of federal programming grant funds.

Pacifica spokesman Burton Glass said Thursday although Pacifica hasn't been served with the lawsuit yet, it's eager to refute it in court.

Glass said Pacifica and Binder were negotiating a contract last year while Binder was working on a month-to-month basis. During these negotiations, Binder began making allegations about the accounting on a radio documentary project upon which he and another Pacifica employee had worked.

"He threatened to make his allegations public as a negotiating ploy," Glass said. "To be sure, we double-checked the financial accounting of his project and went so far as to commission an independent audit. We paid $5,000 for this audit.

"We found Mr. Binder's allegations totally without merit and we understand that the funders of the project, after being contacted by Mr. Binder, also refused to follow up on it," Glass added.

Meanwhile, Glass said, Binder's performance deteriorated over several months and Pacifica chose not to offer him a contract, terminating his month-to-month employment in December.

Binder's attorney, Robert Lazo of San Francisco, said Thursday that Glass' description of the chronology is mistaken: "The complaints and suspicions about the misappropriations started long before any negotiations started."

Binder's suit claims he discovered a co-worker was improperly using some of the more than $1 million in federal grants they received for their documentaries. He claims he was fired because he reported this to federal authorities.

Pacifica also owns stations in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston and Los Angeles, and has an affiliate and subscriber network of about 50 stations nationwide.

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