Lawsuit filed by Lisa Lake

Female employees were regularly called "bitches" and told they "looked hot" or "looked sexy" according to a lawsuit filed by former 10News anchor Lisa Lake against McGraw-Hill Broadcasting, KGTV Channel 10 and (then acting news director) Sean Kennedy. The lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, breach of contract, denial of equal pay, racial discrimination, gender harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The complaint alleges that KGTV "had a custom and practice of discriminating against African Americans" and "regularly refused to hire and retain African American employees." It also charges that KGTV "hired only one African American for a position in the newsroom" between 2000 and the time the suit was filed. According to the complaint, Lake and "Fred Blankenship, another African American anchor," were turned down for promotions to anchor evening newscasts because of their race and that multiple private complaints about the lack of diversity in the newsroom either went totally unanswered or that no action was taken. The lawsuit alleges that following a more public complaint in a March 2008 staff meeting, Lake was demoted to an anchor/reporter position. The complaint says management acted with "deliberate, outrageous, despicable conduct" and "created a hostile" work environment "rife with harassment, retaliation and discrimination." Lake is represented by attorney Joshua D. Gruenberg, who told NABET-CWA, "I'm proud to represent Lisa. She's an icon in San Diego. She's an active part of the community and a great mom to her girls." Regarding two of the allegations, Gruenberg said, "We believe we can prove that Lisa was paid less than her male co-anchor for the same work and that race was a motivating factor in the decision to remove her from her anchor position." Local 54 President Dennis Csillag said, "Many of these allegations came as no surprise to us. We have been defending our members against similar circumstances at the National Labor Relations Board and many of those charges have been upheld." In May of 2008, Local 54 started hearing from Lisa Lake fans, many of whom began their search for answers at 10NewsUnfair.com. They were upset that Lake had disappeared from the morning and midday newscasts without explanation. Community activists accused the station of treating Lake with "overwhelming discrimination, disrespect and negativity." Community members picketed in front of the station and threatened to boycott advertisers. On August 14, 2008, (acting news director) Sean Kennedy issued a statement that Lake — who had been on personal leave for several months — would "not return to the station." No further explanation was given. Within a month of Lake's departure, two more veteran high-profile anchors made an exit. 10News weekend anchor Lee Ann Kim and morning weather anchor James Quinones were unable to renegotiate fair contracts. Kim told the Union-Tribune that management said the move was made as a cost-saving measure. Quinones was offered a month-to-month contract with no job security, but landed at KPNX-TV in Phoenix with a 4-year contract at nearly twice his KGTV salary. The budget ax continued to swing in May as news anchor Carol LeBeau left KGTV after 28 years and weather anchor Loren Nancarrow exited after 11 years. Weekend weather anchor Geni Cavitt will exit in mid-July. These high-profile talent losses are the continuation of an exodus that began in early 2006 and has turned over more than half the KGTV news staff, including producers, reporters, writers, photographers and editors. KGTV is facing a financial dilemma after spending an estimated $5 million over the last 3 years on a union-busting attempt.