The principals

From the Winter 2001 issue of The News Media & The Law, page 30.

Bartnicki v. Vopper

• Gloria Bartnicki
  Chief negotiator for Wyoming Valley West (Pa.) School District Teachers’ Union. Her cellular phone conversation with Anthony Kane was surreptitiously recorded.

• Anthony F. Kane Jr.
  President of Wyoming Valley West (Pa.) School District Teachers’ Union. His cellular phone conversation with Gloria Bartnicki was surreptitiously recorded.

• Jack Yocum
  President of Wyoming Valley West (Pa.) Taxpayers’ Association who received copy of audiotape of the phone conversation in his mailbox.

• Frederick W. Vopper
  WILK Radio talk show host who received the tapes from Yocum and broadcast the recorded conversation over the air. Known by the on-air name Fred Williams.

• Charles Harman
  Used a police scanner to listen to wireless telephone conversations of a neighbor in December 1994. Harman recorded conversations in which Peavy allegedly discussed plans to unfairly interfere in the school district’s award of an insurance contract and threatened Harman.

• Carver Peavy
  A trustee of the local school district who sued WFAA and a reporter in October 1996 for allegedly violating wiretap laws and for civil conspiracy.

• WFAA-TV
  A Texas television station that reported on Peavy’s alleged wrongdoing, without broadcasting the recorded conversation. The station disclosed some content from the conversations, but did not make the recording.

• The Florida couple
  Used a scanner, to intercept and record a conference call of Republican House members discussing an ethics investigation of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

• Rep. James A. McDermott
  The ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, who received a copy of the tape. The representative in turn passed the tape on to The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Roll Call, each of whom published a story about the conversation.

• Rep. John A. Boehner
  A participant in the original conference call who sued McDermott for violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.