Lawyer: Scripps Tried to Protect Their Motown Anchor
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FTVLive was the FIRST to tell you that former WXYZ Reporter Tara Edwards had sued the station and parent company Scripps for alleged sexual harassment by WXYZ Anchor Malcom Maddox.
Edwards attorney Geoffrey Fieger said that WXYZ executives covered up the long-term sexual harassment by Maddox because he was more important to them than the alleged victim.
"This entire horrible series of events was covered up,” Fieger said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon called to discuss a $100-million federal civil right lawsuit filed against the station. “It should have never gotten to this … it was covered up by WXYZ."
“They wanted their anchor, who is an African American, to stay in place rather than Tara," Fieger alleged. "…They chose the high profile anchor over the subordinate.”
Fieger said Edwards left her job in December of 2016 because staying was impossible.
“Tara didn’t want to leave, she had to leave," Fieger said. " She couldn’t put up with the ... harassment.”
The Detroit Free Press writes that in a quivering voice, Edwards, reading a prepared statement explaining her experience at WXYZ. She said she used her voice as a reporter to "help the voiceless."
"So imagine how difficult is has been to have felt so helpless, hopeless and voiceless in my own nightmare for so long,"
"From the beginning, all I ever wanted was for my name to be cleared," Edwards said. "All I ever wanted was for Mr. Maddox to admit the vile, vicious and nasty rumors were not true. The rumors continue to be prevalent at WXYZ to this day."
Among the allegations in the lawsuit is that a spurned Maddox falsely told colleagues at the TV station that he and Edwards were having an affair and that and that Edwards had sex with him while on a work assignment in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The station issued this statement after the lawsuit was filed. "The investigation found that Maddox had engaged in inappropriate communications with coworkers that did not conform to the policies of WXYZ or its parent company The E.W. Scripps Co.," the company said in a statement. "Maddox was disciplined immediately, receiving a two-week unpaid suspension, consistent with company procedures."
