Former WBZ anchor Kate Merrill sues station for discrimination, claims demotion due to race
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A former morning WBZ-TV news anchor who left the Boston television station abruptly last summer has filed a lawsuit against the station claiming she was unfairly discriminated against for being white.
Longtime broadcast journalist Kate Merrill filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Boston against the station, network, parent company Paramount and two former morning news colleagues. She is represented in the lawsuit by Freiberger & Washienko LLC of Boston.
Merrill’s claim seeks unspecified damages for unlawful discrimination on the basis of gender, failure to adequately investigate her claims of discrimination, defamation, contract interference and failure to pay wages on a timely basis.
Merrill, in her complaint filed Aug. 5, says she was wrongfully demoted in May 2024 by Justin Draper, then-president and general manager of WBZ, from her role as co-anchor of the Weekday Morning Show to work weekend nights, following an investigation being conducted into allegations that she had treated coworkers differently because of their race. But Merrill includes in her complaint several examples of her having worked closely with colleagues of color for more than 20 years.
“She opened the doors to her home to and befriended colleagues, regardless of race (or any protected category), and mentored any person… who reached out and asked for her assistance trying to establish themselves in broadcast news,” the complaint states.
WBZ did not respond to a request for comment early Tuesday morning.
Merrill’s lawsuit also claims that WBZ made on-air personnel moves in the name of diversity, replacing several white broadcast journalists with newscasters who Merrill in her complaint describes as less experienced and who were not white. Additionally, she alleges that the station was not providing adequate training for those new co-workers.
“Although WBZ was hiring persons of color and bringing diversity to the station, it was failing to provide support to these new members of the team to ensure their success, and that doing so was vital for the station’s success,” Merrill’s complaint states.
Merrill’s demotion began after a series of events starting in early 2024. The complaint includes an example in April 2024 in which Merrill sent a private text to a Black on-air colleague, meteorologist Jason Mikell, who joined the station in fall 2023 and was new to the Boston area, had mispronounced the name of a Massachusetts town in his broadcast. The complaint states that Mikell “immediately confronted Ms. Merrill, loudly yelling at her on the studio floor and asserting that she was being critical of him. His tone was aggressive and unprofessional.”
Merrill immediately lodged a complaint with WBZ’s human resources department, according to the lawsuit. Instead of addressing the meteorologist, Merrill alleges in her complaint, station management — and Paramount executive Michael Roderick — began investigating her for racial bias and microaggressions.
Merrill denies that any of her actions “were described or motivated by overt racism or unconscious bias,” the lawsuit states.
The suit claims that Roderick would not speak with Black WBZ newsroom employees about their long-standing positive relationships with Merrill, or with co-workers who had witnessed the exchange with Mikell and would support her. Less than a month later, on May 17, according to the complaint, Roderick issued her a “written warning” that required her to take “unconscious bias training” and that “similar conduct” on her part could result in termination.
Merrill denies that any of her actions “were described or motivated by overt racism or unconscious bias,” according to the lawsuit.
On Monday, May 20, Draper “unnecessarily broadly announced Ms. Merrill’s demotion, humiliating her,” the complaint states. Merrill claims that Draper “had not similarly broadly announced the demotions of any male anchors at WBZ.” She described the demotion as “career ending.”
Merrill resigned on May 24, 2024, and due to a noncompete clause in her contract, she was unable to work in broadcast journalism until June 1, 2025.
Merrill is seeking a jury trial to determine damages, stating that she “has suffered and continues to suffer damages including but not limited to loss of income, loss of personal and professional reputation, loss of community standing, and emotional distress and mental suffering, and other damages in an amount to be determined at trial.”
This article first appeared in Boston Business Journal.
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