THE NEWS

After three years of litigation, and six figure legal fees paid out of KPFA’s bank account, the KPFA Protectors have abandoned their Safety Net lawsuit. A settlement agreement signed on June 5, 2023 and filed with the court dismisses the entire action with prejudice (meaning it cannot be re-filed), and stipulates no conditions except that the defendants (Pacifica Foundation and former board members Grace Aaron and Alex Steinberg) shall not make any subsequent claim for malicious prosecution. 

All parties pay their own fees, so KPFA is permanently relieved of all the money paid out (which at last report was well over $100,000 and has probably increased significantly since then) and donors to the Safety Net/Protectors get nothing. The 2020 KPFA Local Station Board, dominated by the Protectors, refused to censure members Goldmacher, Turner, and Huggins for filing the lawsuit and the three plaintiffs (plus Protector Craig Alderson who bailed on the lawsuit midway through) have not announced any plans to repay the station and network in whole or in part for the abundant legal fees their actions cost. Recent layoffs at KPFA were partially atrributable to the financial strain of the Protectors lawsuit.