:25:01
And it was very very
clear I would say
:25:03
almost every edit
they made to the piece
:25:06
that was the aim.
:25:08
And we changed this
and this and this.
:25:10
And then that
wasnt good enough
:25:11
okay now change
this and this.
:25:13
Now change this and this.
:25:15
Version after version
after version.
:25:18
83 times.
:25:21
83 times is unheard
of it doesnt happen
:25:24
you shouldnt have to
rewrite something 83 times
:25:26
Obviously they didnt want
to put the thing on the air
:25:28
and they were trying to drive us
crazy and get us to quit
:25:31
or wait until the first
window in our contract
:25:33
so that they
could fire us.
:25:35
They in effect announced that
they were going to fire us
:25:38
for no cause.
:25:40
Well this was
a little much.
:25:41
And Steve wrote a letter
to the lawyer in Atlanta
:25:44
whose name is Caroline Forest
the Fox corporate lawyer.
:25:48
And I said you know this isnt
about being fired for no cause.
:25:52
You're firing us because we
refused to put on the air
:25:56
something that we knew and
demonstrated to be false
:25:59
and misleading.
:26:00
Thats what
this is about.
:26:01
And because we
put up a fight
:26:03
because we stood up
to this big corporation
:26:05
and we stood up
to your editors
:26:06
and we stood up
to your lawyers.
:26:07
And we said to you
:26:08
look there ought
to be a principle higher
:26:10
than just making money.
:26:11
And she wrote a
letter back and said
:26:13
you are right thats
exactly what it was.
:26:15
You stood up
to us on this story
:26:16
and thats why
we're letting you go.
:26:19
Big mistake
:26:20
Big mistake
:26:22
That says retaliation.
:26:24
You cant retaliate
against employees
:26:27
if theyre standing
up for something
:26:29
that they believe is illegal
:26:30
that they dont want
to participate in.
:26:33
So that gave us
:26:34
the whistleblower
stats that wanted
:26:36
in the state of Florida to
file a whistleblower claim
:26:39
against our employer.
:26:42
Two or three years
later we got the trial.
:26:44
Five weeks of testimony led
to a jury verdict of $425000
:26:50
in which the jury determined
:26:51
that the story they
pressured us to broadcast
:26:53
the story we resisted
telling was in fact false
:26:56
distorted or slanted.