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Cumulus Suspends WPRO Talker For Talking
8-15-2012
Cumulus has suspended John DePetro for talking to a reporter about a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a co-worker. DePetro apparently e-mailed reporter Bob Plain at the website RIFuture.org. Plain reports DePetro said Cumulus did a full investigation of the matter and cleared him. After the suspension, it appears, DePetro may regret not keeping his mouth shut.
Another e-mail from DePetro was posted to Plain's blog a short time later. "I have been suspended for my part in the story that appeared about me this morning. I have already denied the allegations against me, and I should not have discussed the matter beyond that. To make things worse, the quotes that were attributed to me were not entirely accurate. I hope it is clear that I do not speak on behalf of Cumulus with regards to the investigation or any other Company employment matters. I have learned from my mistake and look forward to returning to the air on Monday. Going forward, I shall have no further comments about this matter."
A female employee filed a lawsuit Friday alleging DePetro brought her to a house and tried to have sex with her. DePetro is also quoted in Plain's story saying "the suit against him was a way to defend against losing her job, which he said was in jeopardy because of how she handled a story. There was never a mention of anything until she FXXd (expletive deleted) up The Who story. That sent her into a tail spin. Were they going to fire her, I don’t know.”
WPRO is a News Talk station in East Providence Rhode Island. Program Director Craig Schwalb confirmed to Radio Ink that DePetro will be back on the air Monday.
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