By Tali Woodward

P.J. Corkery, who was the Fang-owned San Francisco Examiner's version of columnist Herb Caen until he was fired last month, is suing publisher Florence Fang and her company ExIn for fraud and breach of contract – and, on behalf of the public, for unfair business practices.

Corkery is asking for $2.4 million, attorney's fees, and a court order requiring ExIn to give "employees and former employees at The Examiner all monies wrongly withheld or taken by defendants."

Dozens of Examiner employees have quit or been fired since the Fangs took over, and exiting staffers have complained vociferously about their treatment (see "All in the Family," 4/30/03). But this is the first time any of the criticism has been laid out in a public court complaint.

Corkery referred us to his attorney, Peter Haley, who said, "The complaint speaks for itself."

Filed May 5 in San Mateo County Superior Court, the complaint alleges that Fang and ExIn have been involved in "unfair and fraudulent" business practices since 2000, when they took over the paper from Hearst Corp. It says they promised salaries and benefits they didn't intend to honor, misled employees about the paper's financial health so they would accept less compensation, and refused to sign employment contracts "in order to permit later denials of what was agreed to."

Fang told Corkery "that The Examiner was financially solvent and would be published long after a $66 million 'subsidy' from The Hearst Corporation would be spent; and that his compensation would increase over time," the suit alleges. But, it continues, "Fang never intended to employ Corkery any longer than it took to divert as many millions of dollars as she could from the Hearst Corporation subsidy to the use and benefit of herself and her family, by means of grossly excessive salaries, sweetheart contracts, and payments to the lover of one family member."

According to the complaint, one of Corkery's duties at the Ex was "to befriend important office-holders and celebrities in San Francisco and defend Fang's actions and reputation."

The complaint also says that, in mid-March of this year, Fang told Corkery all of the Hearst subsidy money had already been spent. The subsidy was designed to extend through July.

Calls to Fang were not returned.

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