Feb. 10, 2023
By the Daily Post staff
Daily Post reporter Emily Mibach will receive the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for her expose into a sewage-processing district’s attempt to keep secret $1.8 million in payments to settle a sexual harassment case, the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal chapter announced yesterday (Feb. 9).
SPJ presents the award to people and organizations whose work advances transparency, freedom of information and the public’s right to know.
More than three years ago, Mibach received a tip about how Dan Child, the general manager of Redwood City-based Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW) had received $875,000 to leave his post. Mibach immediately filed a public records request with the agency to get more information but was stymied by the accused manager and SVCW.
She persevered, and after a court battle lasting two and a half years, was able to access the documents. They revealed that SVCW had covered up sexual harassment with $1.8 million in settlements — $1 million to an employee who had accused Child of sexually harassing her, and $875,000 to Child.
In addition, Child and SVCW reimbursed the Post’s legal fees.
As a result of Mibach’s reporting, advocates have called for legislative changes to close the loophole that allowed the secret settlements.
Mibach won the prize in the category of “smaller print/digital outlet.”
Baker went on to report that one of the members of a special investigating committee formed to probe these allegations had a conflict of interest — a multimillion-dollar stake in the company founded by the president under investigation.
Baker also reported that Stanford officials were involved with a fraud case against a different Stanford-affiliated expert, when the university previously claimed it had no knowledge of that case.
SPJ said Baker’s “work shows a dedication to bringing obscure or hidden information in the public interest to light.”
Baker’s colleagues at the Stanford Daily, Grace Carroll and Georgia Rosenberg are also receiving the honor, after uncovering that tenured professor, Vincent Barletta, had been involved in three Title IX complaints in a decade and that university officials knew of Barletta’s behavior. Carroll and Rosenberg’s reporting has led to students at Stanford calling for Barletta’s termination and for Stanford to do more to hold professors and advisors to account.
The award will be presented at a banquet on March 16.
Another well-deserved award for the Daily Post. Thank you, Emily for digging in to find the truth. Investigative journalism is a dying art. We need more reporters like you and more newspapers like the Daily Post.