Liberal WNYC radio is nothing but a “toxic” cesspool of race and gender discrimination where bullies harass colleagues, a just-booted top editor charged Tuesday.
Jami Floyd — the 57-year-old former director of the public radio station’s Race and Justice Unit — alleged workplace race, gender and age discrimination at a fiery Manhattan press conference where she announced her intention to sue the station and its parent company NPR.
She also accused her ex-employer of retaliatory harassment, defamation and a violation of her civil rights.
Floyd abruptly resigned from her WNYC post Monday morning — after 45 of her articles were removed from the wnyc.org and Gothamist websites for alleged plagiarism.
“For years, black and brown people in general, and black women specifically, have had their careers derailed at New York Public Radio,” Floyd claimed Tuesday in front of the federal courthouse. “The company made a lot of noise about changing its ways.
“But I am here to tell you the culture has not been transformed, especially not when it comes to its black employees.
“Despite asking, begging, demanding, we still have no black reporters in the Race and Justice Unit. In fact, we have no black reporters anywhere in the WNYC newsroom.
“Just like the NFL, we have the Rooney Rule at WNYC. We interview diverse candidates, but we don’t hire them,” she said, referring to the National Football League’s requirement to interview minorities for top jobs — a regulation that has come under fire for allegedly failing to lead to actual hirings.
“We say we want black reporters, but where are they?” Floyd said. “Don’t tell me they don’t exist because I know them, I’ve recruited them. We just haven’t hired them. They’re not in the newsroom. Why not?”
She added that years after the anti-harassment #MeToo movement, “Bullies remain comfortably employed in the organization to this very day.”
“I know this from personal experience. They bullied me. Harassed me. Hazed me from the day I walked through the door in 2015,” Floyd said. “I am tough. What does that say for the people who aren’t as tough as I am?”
Floyd is facing accusations she plagiarized articles published over a period dating back to 2010, when she began with the outlet as a freelancer. Some of the posts allegedly lifted entire paragraphs word-for-word from other sources.
WNYC had told Floyd her alleged plagiarism was a fireable offense before she stepped down, a source familiar with the situation had exclusively told The Post.
Floyd’s rep said Tuesday that his client has not been able to review or see any of the articles that were taken down by WNYC.
Floyd said she complained to colleagues, superiors and human resources about how she was treated at the office, to no avail.
She said she stayed “even though I still felt under siege.
“I’m not the first black woman who was victimized at New York Public Radio, but I am determined to be the last black woman who cannot have a long and successful career at New York Public Radio,” Floyd said.
In 2017, WNYC radio host John Hockenberry was accused of sexually harassing several female co-workers and ended up resigning.
He later said in a statement, “Looking back, my behavior was not always appropriate and I’m sorry.”
That same year, longtime WNYC hosts Leonard Lopate and Johnathan Schwartz were fired over allegations of “inappropriate conduct.”
Lopate denied any wrongdoing.
Schwartz, who among other things was accused of making a co-worker feel uncomfortable by commenting on her appearance, later responded, “Can’t a man say, ‘You look good. Gee, you’re attractive’?”
WNYC did not respond to a request for comment on Flynn’s allegations Tuesday.