A former employee of a longstanding New Jersey radio station says she was fired for speaking out about race-related issues.

Josie Gonsalves, a development officer at WBGO (88.3 FM) in Newark, told NJ Advance Media Wednesday that some employees at the station — which for decades has presided not only as the New York metro area’s premier jazz platform but as a place for community-focused discourse — felt it was straying too far from its original mission as an amplifier for minority voices in the Brick City and beyond.

“When I first arrived (in April 2019), and I noticed that the executive team was filled only by white people, I raised concerns to the CEO about having a person of color on the executive team. And she said to me that there was not a training program or such," Gonsalves, a Black woman, said. “I said this was blatant racism.”

Gonsalves said her concerns were dismissed and she was abruptly terminated Monday without explanation.

When asked Thursday as to the cause of Gonsalves’ firing, WGBO said their organization’s "policy is not to disclose personnel issues.”

The station experienced further turmoil on Tuesday when WBGO CEO Amy Niles resigned from her position in the wake of a recently completed internal review of the station’s practices. The Board of Trustees appointed the station’s founder, Robert G. Ottenhoff, as the new interim CEO.

Gonsalves’ termination has sent waves of outrage throughout Newark, culminating Tuesday with city Mayor Ras Baraka pressing WBGO to rehire Gonsalves. In a letter sent to the station, Baraka said he has “heavy concerns" about racial unrest at the station.

“It has come to my attention that tensions between the African-American employees of WBGO and management have escalated and peaked with the abrupt termination of Josie Gonsalves," Baraka said in the letter addressed to the station’s Board of Trustees. "I have heavy concerns about the environment at WBGO on many levels due to the station’s impact and presence in my life and that of my community.”

In response to the mayor’s support, Gonsalves said she believed Mayor Baraka was “standing up for the authentic history” of New Jersey’s largest city. WBGO was created in 1979 by a coalition of community members hoping to create change following Newark’s race riots in the 1967, according to the station’s website. Over time, it would become one of the most respected jazz stations in the country. The New York Times reports WBGO is one of the two most successful stations in the country spinning records from John Coltrane, Miles Davis and local legends Sarah Vaughan and Wayne Shorter. The only other station matching WBGO’s nearly 300,000 regular broadcast listeners is KKJZ in Los Angeles.

Gonsalves, whose job involved managing grants at the publicly-funded station, said she was one of the organization’s more vocal employees, but added that race-related issues also bothered some white employees.

Although she was not part of the on-air team at WBGO — the station has provided a 24-hour broadcast since 1980 — Gonsalves wrote a column last year about race relations for the station as a guest commentator. The commentary published in August titled “Taking a Closer Look at the Race War on America’s Streets” proved to be controversial, as it pinned the blame of several recent mass shootings in the U.S. on “white home-grown terrorists." People discussed the opinion piece on various discussion boards including Reddit, where some commenters decried her views as extreme.

Gonsalves said Niles suggested the column be taken down shortly after it was posted. However, the column can still be found in the station website’s archives.

WBGO said in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media Wednesday that it has recently taken strides to more closely examine its organization’s behavior regarding discrimination. The station added these measures were taken in response to an op-ed published on NJ.com in November titled “Is there a Blackout at WBGO?”

WBGO said it brought in national law firm Lowenstein Sandler LLP to conduct an independent review of WBGO’s management practices. All employees were invited and urged to take part in voluntary interviews conducive to Lowenstein’s review. It said 20 current employees and six former employees were interviewed, including 14 people of color.

The station said it acknowledged concerns voiced by employees, which included complaints of “perceived racial bias in the workplace” and "a human resources function that did not facilitate prompt reporting and response by senior management to employee concerns.”

Recommendations made by Lowenstein were approved by WBGO’s Board of Trustees Tuesday and include the following:

All staff, senior management, and the Board of Trustees will be required to undergo workplace discrimination training, including an implicit bias component, that includes race, sex, physical/mental disability, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, and other protected classes.

WBGO will establish a more formal human resources function and create a dedicated email and/or phone number for staff to communicate grievances directly to the Board of Trustees.

Management will establish consistent methods of communication regarding non-sensitive, non- confidential topics, and promote more fluid communication between staff and management, potentially through town hall type meetings.

Mandatory executive leadership training will be implemented to improve management’s ability to address staff concerns, demonstrate appreciation for staff effort, and acknowledge accomplishments.

In the wake of the independent review, Niles resigned from her position on Tuesday. It’s unclear whether Niles’ resignation is related to Gonsalves’ firing.

“It is with mixed emotions that I depart WBGO, an organization that I love and where I have dedicated over 13 years,” Niles said in a statement WGBO sent to NJ Advance Media Wednesday. “After consultation with the Board, I made the decision to depart, and the Board will bring in new leadership. This has been a rewarding professional chapter, and I look forward to my next challenge.”

Tennyson Donnie Coleman may be reached at tcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @TennysonTV. Find him on Facebook. Have a tip? Let us know at nj.com/tips.