A WAMU editor has filed a lawsuit against American University, Current (a nonprofit news service at its School of Communications), and current and former WAMU staff members over an article published this summer.

Zuri Berry, a senior managing editor at WAMU, alleges that the article was “riddled with falsehoods, missed key context, and painted [him] in a false light,” according to a press release from the Law Offices of David A. Branch and Associates, PLLC, the firm representing Berry.

In the July article, former Current editorial intern Sasha Fernandez reported that American University was investigating Berry after he had been the subject of complaints from multiple employees. (Disclosure: AU holds the license for WAMU, which acquired DCist in 2018.) The story directly linked complaints about Berry’s behavior to the departures of several women of color from the station.

In the complaint, Berry alleges that Fernandez, along with Current editor Karen Everhart and executive director Julie Drizin, WAMU staffer Sasha-Ann Simons, and former WAMU staffers Letese’ Clark and Alana Wise conspired to defame Berry by publishing false statements.

The complaint also outlines what Berry claims are false statements in a letter from Simons blaming him for the departures of women of color. That letter was read aloud at a WAMU staff meeting in July.

Berry alleges that the letter and the article published by Current omitted Clark and Wise’s behavior and performance issues, as well as the extent of Berry’s work with HR to address these issues. Berry also says the letter and article failed to acknowledge that he did not directly supervise other women of color on staff who had left the station.

“Current, through its own negligence and shoddy work by former editorial intern Sasha Fernandez, has defamed me,” Berry said in a statement provided by his lawyers. “That cannot be undone. This has profoundly impacted my professional career and future opportunities and threatened my ability to provide for my family. And it has all been based on a lie.”

Berry is currently on administrative leave from WAMU while under investigation. The complaint alleges that Berry’s “professional reputation has been destroyed and has foreclosed any possibility” of him gaining comparable employment at any other publication.

The lawsuit comes after a tumultuous summer at the station, which saw the resignation of WAMU general manager J.J. Yore. He stepped down after months of public-facing criticism from the station’s employees and a DCist story revealing that senior WAMU managers knew for years about several allegations of inappropriate behavior from transportation reporter Martin Di Caro. DCist later reported that WAMU leadership tried to fire Di Caro, but that AU blocked them.

Berry is seeking relief for common law torts of defamation and invasion of privacy. In addition to $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages, he is requesting that Current retract the story and apologize, and is seeking an injunction against the defendants.

Everhart declined to comment on the suit, and AU spokesperson Sandra Rodríguez told DCist in an email that “we do not comment on pending lawsuits.” Fernandez, Drizin, Simons, Clark, and Wise did not immediately respond to DCist’s request for comment.

This article was updated to accurately reflect Berry’s claims in the lawsuit that he worked with WAMU HR to address the alleged performance issues of some of his direct reports and to include a comment from an AU spokesperson.

This story was reported under the guidance of editors Naomi Starobin and Natalie Delgadillo. WAMU and American University senior executives did not review this story prior to publication.