Fired KWMU Boss Reaches $50,000 Settlement with University
Patty Wente, the former general manager of KWMU (90.7 FM) known for her off-color sense of humor and risqué taste in fashion (imagine “leather dominatrix outfits”), has reached a settlement with University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The settlement agreed to November 11 pays Wente a lump sum of $50,000, with $15,000 of that sum going directly to Wente’s attorney, Danna McKitrick. The settlement amount is less than half the $118,000 in salary and bonus Wente earned during her last full year at the station in 2007.
Click on image for full copy of settlement.
In return for the $50,000 payment, the former KWMU boss will:
- Drop a grievance she filed with the university following her dismissal.
- Abstain from filing any lawsuits against the school.
- Never again seek employment from KWMU or any school in the University of Missouri system.
- Forego any disparaging remarks against KWMU and the university.
- Assist KWMU in any additional fact-finding or review of KWMU or its affiliates.
University officials, meanwhile, agreed not to disparage against Wente in any way. Included in the settlement agreement is a letter of recommendation for Wente from UMSL Chancellor Thomas George.
The school also agreed to revoke its "termination" of Wente. Instead the university will now consider her departure as a "resignation."
In related news, university officials are said to be close to hiring a permanent replacement for Wente. This month the school flew in four finalists for the job. In a conversation I had with interim station manager Mike Dunn earlier this month, he told me the university would have to hire someone by January. That's when Dunn is scheduled to return to his full-time job as general manager of KBIA (91.3 FM) in Columbia, Missouri.
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