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Jeff Duhé, a former award-winning reporter at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, has come forward to tell Accuracy in Media that he was the secret whistleblower who reported Beth Courtney, a member of the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), to the Louisiana Board of Ethics, which found her guilty of violating the law and fined her. Duhé, who worked at Louisiana Public Broadcasting for 14 years, is now publicly alleging a pattern of questionable conduct by Courtney, and says that he has a tape-recording to prove it.

The tape includes Courtney yelling and using profanity at Duhé. "If your boss tells you to do something, you do it, and it's not unethical," she screams. "You're out of control."

As AIM has reported, in a decision (web site) handed down on January 12, Courtney and her husband Bob Courtney, who runs a public relations and film and video production company, were found guilty by the Louisiana Board of Ethics of violating conflict of interest laws and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. One violation involved receiving payments from a private company, which hired Bob Courtney's firm, and did business with a Louisiana public broadcasting entity that Beth Courtney ran. Under Louisiana's Code of Ethics, subcontractors are subject to the same nepotism provisions as contractors with the state. Courtney and her husband did not contest the findings.

The state violations jeopardize her seat on the national CPB board. The CPB Code of Ethics and Business Conduct says that "Each employee shall act at all times with integrity and perform his or her duties in compliance with all applicable Federal, state and local laws, and CPB policies and procedures. Each employee shall discharge his or her duties in an honest, candid, and thorough manner."

Courtney told AIM the state violations were "technical" and didn't deserve any "gigantic follow-up" from the press. She said she would not resign from the CPB board.

Duhé tells AIM, "The sordid details of her illegal activities pale in comparison to her abusive management style. For decades, a pattern of vicious employee derision has escalated in proportion to her getting away with it. Profanity-filled screaming fits of red-faced intensity are routine. Standing in the halls of the network's flagship station in Baton Rouge, she curses and stamps like a flapping duck, weaponizing any arcane personal or family information she can call to mind to bludgeon the staff victim into submission."

Duhé has won numerous journalist awards, including from the Society of Professional Journalists. He also received (web site) a prestigious Emmy award.

Another former employee of Louisiana Public Broadcasting has told AIM that he, too, witnessed abusive treatment of employees by Courtney.

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