Joe Martin, editor for 11 years of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation newspaper, was removed from his job last month for violating the tribe's code of ethics, though his lawyer said Martin was dismissed for very different reasons.
Martin, who headed the Cherokee One Feather, published in Cherokee, N.C., received a letter from tribal Deputy Finance Officer Charles Penick on Oct. 31 informing him that he had been involuntarily transferred to another tribal job for violating the code.
"Recent events have substantiated that actions taken by you, the editor of our weekly tribal publication, have violated the Code of Ethical Conduct," the letter stated. "This code requires all EBCI employees to conduct themselves with integrity, impartiality and professional conduct that will reflect favorably upon themselves and the EBCI."
The letter added that Martin violated the code by speaking with the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times newspaper and stating a personal opinion while citing his tribal position.
In late October, the Citizen-Times reported that Principal Chief Michell Hicks, on the day after his inauguration, issued an executive order that ended a section of the tribal newspaper called "Rants and Raves." That section, which Martin oversaw, gave tribal citizens the opportunity to write letters anonymously.
The Citizen-Times quoted Martin as saying Hicks was trying to censor the newspaper.
"The most basic free press is anonymous free speech," said Robert Saunooke, Martin's lawyer and Hicks's opponent in the September election for tribal chief. "I guess the chief did not like [Martin's] responses. So because of that response, he was involuntarily transferred."
Penick's letter said Martin would become operations manager at the tribe's child care facility.
"We had no idea what that job is, and no one told him what it does or what the qualifications are or anything related to that position or even how it was cleared," Saunooke said.
Martin rejected the transfer through Saunooke, and Penick informed Martin that his rejection would be treated as a resignation from tribal employment.
When contacted, Penick said that the issue was an "internal, administrative procedure" and that the tribe had no comment on it.
Martin will attempt to appeal loss of his job, Saunooke said.
"We will do the administrative route first if there are any appeals available to us," he said. "I'm presuming that those appeals will be either denied, or the actions will be upheld. I'm assuming at that point in time if Joe wants to, we'll file suit against the tribe for wrongful termination, retaliation and violations of a tribal law related to the free press act the tribe passed."
Last year, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation Tribal Council passed a free press act stating that the tribal newspaper "shall be independent from any undue influence and free of any particular political interest."
"We believe that the actions that are being taken right now interfere with free press," Saunooke said.
"In other words, ‘if you work for the tribe and make a bad comment we don't like, we're going to fire you,' and we don't think that's right."
In a statement, the Native American Journalists Association [1] expressed "grave concerns" about the tribe's action against Martin, saying, "Tribally funded newspapers need the freedom of opinion and expression to cover issues important to their community, regardless of whether those papers are tribally owned and operated."