Daily News reporter Andy Gross has taken steps to file a wrongful discharge suit against the newspaper after he was fired Monday morning.
Gross, who has covered business and tourism for the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper since February, said he walked into the Daily News office in Estate Thomas around 9:15 a.m. Monday only to find that all of his personal items had been stripped from his desk.
Gross said that a letter, signed by Acting City Editor Will Jones, stated that he was being terminated due to alleged inaccuracies in his May 31 "Andy's Briefcase" column relating to a reported shake-up at Island Finance.
A correction appeared on page two in Monday's edition of the Daily News.
Gross said he was given the option of signing a letter of resignation to avoid being terminated. "I am definitely not going to sign the letter and I am not going to be intimidated," he said. "J. Lowe Davis (Daily News executive editor) is a manipulative person, both with people and the news," he said.
He added, "She clearly has her own agenda."
When reached by telephone Monday night, Davis declined to comment. "We do not discuss personnel matters and we do not discuss pending litigation," she said.
Attorney Lee Rohn confirmed that she is handling Gross' case. Rohn said she will conduct her "due diligence research" and plans to file the suit within the next two weeks.
In addition to the Gross case, Rohn is handling two high-profile cases involving the Daily News.
Will Jones, who up until recently had been St. Croix bureau chief, filed a discrimination complaint against the paper earlier this year claiming that their hiring and managerial practices were racially biased.
Jones declined to comment on Gross' termination and would not discuss the status of his discrimination complaint.
Penny Feuerzeig, former Daily News executive editor, also has a wrongful discharge suit pending.
Rohn said she is handling a fourth case involving the Daily News but declined to disclose her client's name.