Former WBZ anchor Kate Merrill is pushing back at the Boston station for trying to toss portions of her “reverse discrimination” lawsuit.
Merrill — who left the media outlet under a cloud of mystery — is suing WBZ, CBS and others for racial and gender discrimination.
She claims that she was illegally pushed out from the station after more than 20 years as WBZ advanced “a DEI agenda.”
A couple months ago, WBZ and the other defendants filed a motion to dismiss for many of her claims. Merrill’s lawyers have now responded with an “opposition to the defendant’s motion to dismiss.”
WBZ and the other defendants are trying to toss her gender discrimination, defamation, and actual malice claims.
WBZ’s lawyers argued that she didn’t “plausibly allege” discrimination because of her gender.
“Their argument is unavailing,” Merrill’s lawyers wrote in their response. “In her Complaint, Ms. Merrill alleged and pleaded facts that support that she, a woman, was subjected to disparate treatment in discipline compared to her male peers.”
Merrill joined WBZ as a reporter in 2004. The station promoted her from reporter to anchor, and in 2016, she became the lead 11 p.m. reporter and weekend anchor. In 2017, WBZ named Merrill co-anchor for WBZ This Morning and WBZ News at Noon.
Then in 2024, Merrill learned that she was being investigated for allegedly treating colleagues differently because of their race.
One of those colleagues was Jason Mikell, a Black meteorologist from Mississippi. When he was hired, he reportedly asked Merrill to help him with the pronunciation of local cities and towns.
Then last April, she texted him during a commercial break to correct his on-air pronunciation of Concord.
“… Defendant Mikell immediately confronted Ms. Merrill, loudly yelling at her on the studio floor and asserting that she was being critical of him,” her suit reads. “His tone was aggressive and unprofessional. Ms. Merrill immediately lodged a complaint with WBZ’s Human Resources department.”
The station didn’t investigate her complaint against Mikell, she claims. Instead, she said an investigation was launched into allegations that she treated colleagues differently because of their race.
The station concluded that Merrill’s behavior was grounded in microaggressions or unconscious bias, and it led to a “very unwelcoming work environment.” She received a written warning, and she was required to complete unconscious bias training.
Merrill was then demoted from co-anchor of the Weekday Morning Show to working weekend nights. She ended up resigning soon after.
In her lawyers’ recent federal filing, they argued that she was discriminated against based on her gender because, in part, the station GM did not announce the demotions of any male anchors like he did with Merrill’s demotion.
The defendants “did not discipline Defendant Mikell for publicly and aggressively confronting Ms. Merrill on the studio floor, while disciplining Ms. Merrill,” her attorneys wrote.
Also, Merrill claims that Mikell while on air made a sexually-charged comment about her.
The defendants “did not discipline Defendant Mikell (who is a male) for making an inappropriate sexually-charged comment about Ms. Merrill on air, notwithstanding Ms. Merrill’s (and others’) complaints about same,” the lawyers wrote.
“Ms. Merrill’s Complaint alleges Defendants treated her disparately (more harshly) in its investigation into her alleged misconduct and in discipline compared to her male colleagues,” they added. “These are allegations of gender discrimination.”
Merrill’s attorneys also pushed back against the defendants for trying to dismiss her defamation claim.
“Immediately after an investigation known to people at WBZ-TV to be into allegations that Ms. Merrill was racist, Defendants WBZ-TV, CBS, and Paramount… demoted Ms. Merrill,” her lawyers wrote. “The following business day, in two separate staff meetings, Defendant Draper (GM) announced Ms. Merrill’s demotion to WBZ-TV personnel. Taken together, the investigation, demotion and announcement of demotion immediately thereafter attributed racist animus to Ms. Merrill. This is actionable.”
In her lawsuit, Merrill claims that WBZ, CBS and Paramount had a corporate agenda and implemented quotas to “advance an unlawful corporate purpose: reverse discrimination.”
Her attorneys also responded to WBZ’s attempt to toss her actual malice claim.
“Defendants contest that the Complaint pleaded that Defendant Mikell acted with actual malice. That is incorrect,” her lawyers wrote. “Ms. Merrill’s Complaint alleges Defendant Mikell’s allegations against her were false and/or and misleading.”
