More Trouble for CBS as Demoted Boston Anchorwoman Sues Network, Claims Execs Said Her Show Was ‘Too White’

CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global, are facing new legal problems as a former local news anchor, Katherine Merrill, is suing her former employer and the two companies, alleging she was wrongfully accused of “microaggressions” and “implicit bias,” and discriminated against because she is white.Ms. Merrill, who was a morning show anchor at WBZ — a CBS-owned station in Boston — from 2017 until she abruptly resigned in 2024, filed a 57-page, $4 million lawsuit this week alleging she faced “unlawful discrimination on the basis of race” and gender.CBS Inc. implemented aggressive diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the midst of the “racial reckoning” in 2020, setting a goal of having half of its writers be “nonwhite” by the 2022-23 season. CBS also agreed to give a quarter of its production budgets to “BIPOC” creators and producers and to buy programming from the NAACP. All of these policies have been or are being reversed, as part of the conditions Paramount’s new owner, Skydance, had to meet in order to get the Trump administration’s approval of the merger.Ms. Merrill alleges that WBZ-TV adopted aggressive diversity policies at the direction of CBS and “exploited such policies and took career-ending action” against her to “advance a DEI agenda.”George Cheeks attends the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on June 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Critics Choice AssociationThe lawsuit notes that the chief executive of CBS, George Cheeks, who was the biggest and most vocal booster of CBS’s diversity quotas during the “racial reckoning,” said in 2021 that “our diversity, equity and inclusion standards need to be a top priority for leadership in every corner of our Station’s business.” The complaint also says that the former head of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, “prioritized” diversity policies and “began to implement policies of reverse discrimination.”Mr. Cheeks is the only top-tier executive at Paramount to survive the merger and will continue to oversee CBS as it rolls back and eliminates all its diversity policies — if CBS actually makes good on Skydance’s commitment.Ms. Merrill alleges that the CBS station group executive who oversaw the East Coast stations, Adrienne Roark, said that WBZ’s morning show was “too white” and that the station was the “least diverse station for on air talent” and the “whitest of all their stations.” The lawsuit says that Ms. Roark “handcuffed” hiring when there were no minority candidates in the process. (Ms. Roark was later moved to CBS News, but was forced out after less than a year after she reprimanded a Jewish co-host of “CBS Mornings,” Tony Dokoupil, for sharp-edged questioning of a virulently anti-Israel writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates.)Kate Merrill was accused of suggesting to co-worker Courtney Cole, right, that she would be better suited to work in Nashville. WBZMs. Merrill says her problems began when new, Black talent was added to her show’s cast. She says WBZ did nothing to investigate her complaint against one of her new colleagues, a meteorologist who is Black, Jason Mikell, for allegedly making a sexually suggestive comment to her on-air in February 2024. She also alleged that one time Mr. Mikell “immediately confronted” and was “loudly yelling at her on the studio floor” after she corrected him on the pronunciation of a Massachusetts town name.Ms. Merrill’s lawsuit says that a week after she filed a complaint to HR, she was informed that the station was investigating her over allegations that she treated her co-workers “differently because of their race.” One allegation against the host says that she told Mr. Mikell that he would “find his people” in the city and was “always” critical of him. A new Black anchor, Courtney Cole, complained that Ms. Merrill said she should leave Boston and take a job as an anchor in Nashville, which Ms. Cole “apparently interpreted as a suggestion that she go to Nashville because it would be a better racial fit.”She was also accused of rolling her eyes at people of color and refusing to greet them when they walked into the room.Kate Merrill was accused of committing a microagression by allegedly correcting weatherman Jason Mikell’s pronunciation of ‘Concord.’ WBZIn May 2024, Michael Roderick, who conducted the investigation, told Ms. Merrill that the probe “corroborated” the allegations against her and that he determined her actions were “grounded in microaggressions or unconscious bias and created a very unwelcoming work environment.” In a written warning, WBZ required Ms. Merrill to take unconscious bias training and accused her of falsely submitting complaints against her colleagues, “only after” she was informed of the investigation into her.After the warning, Ms. Merrill was told that she was being demoted to working weekend nights, which had allegedly been “in the works for some time.”Ms. Merrill disputed the notion that the demotion had been “in the works,” as her lawsuit states that in March 2024 the station aired a “promotional piece” about her 20th anniversary at the company, which her lawsuit says is an “action unlikely for an organization planning to demote someone.” She said “senior leaders at SAG-AFTRA” told her that she had been treated “significantly more harshly” than some of her male colleagues. She also said she never had conversations about her performance and that ratings for the morning show were “positive.”Adrienne Roark, the former head of newsgathering for CBS News, reprimanded anchor Tony Dokoupil for not meeting news standards in his interview with an anti-Israel writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates. The reprimand was made at CBS News’s morning meeting on the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Michele Crowe/CBS News Her lawsuit alleges that her demotion was an effort by WBZ, CBS, and Paramount to “make an example of her” and to “attempt to make the point that CBS now took seriously complaints of racism allegedly perpetrated by white employees.”WBZ replaced Ms. Merrill with a longtime evening anchor, Paula Ebben, who is white. Following the demotions and allegations, Ms. Merrill announced her resignation from WBZ in May 2024. However, she said that because of a non-compete clause, she was unable to work in the industry until her contract expired in June 2025. It was unclear if Ms. Merrill is still out of a job even after her contract expired.On top of allegedly failing to investigate her complaints, Ms. Merrill also accuses her former employer of defamation, tortious interference with advantageous relations, and untimely payment of wages.Terminated: Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News, has exited Paramount. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, FileMs. Merrill’s lawsuit is the second high-profile lawsuit alleging discrimination against CBS in recent years. In April, CBS settled a lawsuit brought by a white script writer, Brian Beneker, who alleged he was discriminated against and denied a staff writing job on the network drama “SEAL Team” because of an “illegal policy of race and sex balancing.” The lawsuit was filed by an organization, America First Legal, founded by a top White House adviser, Stephen Miller.Ms. Merrill’s and the allegations of “reverse discrimination” come at a notable time, as Skydance Media’s acquisition is expected to be finalized on August 7. While Mr. Cheeks is expected to stay on as the chief executive of CBS, his new bosses at Skydance have made commitments to the Federal Communications Commission to rid Paramount of its DEI policies. Skydance’s general counsel and co-president of business operations, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, told the FCC that Paramount “will not engage in any DEI-related disparate treatment in hiring” or promotional decisions.As Ms. Merrill’s lawsuit was filed this week, it remains to be seen whether Skydance will try to fight it or settle. Before the merger was complete, CBS was fighting Mr. Beneker’s lawsuit; however, it settled amid its efforts to win the government’s approval of the Skydance deal, and as the chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, warned that diversity policies could sink corporate mergers. WBZ did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Paramount and Skydance also did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

More Trouble for CBS as Demoted Boston Anchorwoman Sues Network, Claims Execs Said Her Show Was ‘Too White’

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