Reporter Sues Miami Station for Discrimination

Back in September of 2014, FTVLive told you that WFOR (Miami) Reporter Michele Gillen went missing from the station.

At the time, the longtime Reporter walked out after a nasty, public tongue-lashing about her work from colleague Jim DeFede. She returned to the station in November 2014.

In 2016 the station did not renew her contract and now here in 2018, she is suing the CBS O&O for discrimination.

Gillen says she was told by HR that she couldn't claim discrimination because she had a female news director. She is suing for retaliation after being terminated, but CBS says the decision to not renew her contract was justified.

"The careers of an untold number of talented women at CBS have been extinguished, and those who report violations of CBS anti-discrimination policy, including reports to the CBS legal department in New York, face career-ending retaliation," reads her legal complaint.

In the lawsuit, Gillen singles out local CBS anchor and investigative reporter Jim DeFede for allegedly routinely bullying her.

“We are confident that Michele Gillen was treated fairly when she worked for WFOR-TV, and station management’s decision to not renew her contract in 2016 was justified," a corporate spokesperson said via email. "Her claims are factually inaccurate and will not survive scrutiny.”

In the lawsuit, Gillen says she saw "woman after woman" over age 40 face discrimination through abusive treatment and prevented opportunities — then be systemically pushed out. Those who went to human resources found resistance in the form of questions such as "Are you sure you want me to write your complaint down and send it to New York?" Ultimately, many of them simply walked away by resigning or signing confidentiality agreements, she says.

H/T Miami New Times

---