Nexstar Breaks Silence on Fired Anchor
/
Back on January 8th, FTVLive shared the story of former WJTV (Jackson, MS) Anchor Brittany Noble who said she was fired from the Nexstar station for among other things, wearing her hair “natural.”
Noble said, "After filing the first complaint, the corporate HR department would say to me, 'Where are your curls? You said you wanted to wear your curls.' Management couldn’t understand that the black hair texture is very different from what they know," she said. "I have been going through great lengths since I was a little girl to 'tame my fro,' but how would people know that?"
Nexstar has remained silent on the Anchor’s firing, but now they have released a statement. A spokesperson from WJTV and Nexstar Broadcasting told TODAY they stand by their decision to terminate Noble: "WJTV-TV and Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy which prohibits harassment, discrimination or retaliation of any type. Allegations that Ms. Jones’ employment was terminated for her choice of hairstyles have no basis in fact and are vigorously denied. Ms. Jones’ employment was in fact terminated for excessive absenteeism and for her failure to return to work and fulfill her contractual responsibilities after exhausting all available leave time."
Noble says she was unexpectedly terminated from WJTV while she was caring for her dying grandfather.
"I took sick time in May because my grandfather wouldn’t open his eyes. Company policy states you can only take off to care for immediate family members. WJTV told me if I didn’t return they would fire me," she said.
Her EEOC complaint is still pending against the company.
