Judge Allows Fired Pittsburgh Anchor's Case to Move Forward
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Former WTAE Anchor Wendy Bell won a round in federal court.
A judge declined Hearst" (WTAE's owner) request to throw out Bell's lawsuit.
Bell was fired after her comments in a Facebook post about a shooting were deemed racially insensitive.
After her firing, Bell filed a lawsuit against the station, asking for back pay, punitive damages and her old job back.
Bell's comments sparked a backlash from some who saw her words as racist but also drew defenders who found her post honest. She was fired nine days later after WTAE determined her remarks violated the company's journalism and ethics standards.
Hearst, in turn, filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed in September, arguing that she had no evidence supporting her claim.
In her ruling, the judge wrote Friday, “Bell is entitled to proceed to discovery, and this motion to dismiss is denied.”
