Photographer Claims He Was Fired over False Accusations
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WPIX News Photographer Ken Evseroff claims that he was fired from the station after a Muslim Anchorwoman and other station staffers falsely accused him of racism and Islamaphobia.
In October of 2018, Anchor/Reporter Narmeen Choudhury, who had worked with Evseroff in the field first complained to the station’s human resources department about Evseroff. Choudhury, a Muslim Bangladeshi-American and mother of two who has worked at WPIX since 2011, claimed the white Evseroff made “rude, racist and/or sexist comments” during nearly every assignment they worked together, according to HR documents.
Evseroff was fired on September 11, 2019.
It the 18th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, Evseroff shared a widely-distributed meme on Facebook about Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s controversial description of the terror attack as “some people did something,” according to the lawsuit. The meme featured the words “‘Never Forget’ – You said” over a picture of the burning Twin Towers, juxtaposed with a snap of Omar in a hijab and the phrase, “I am the proof – You have forgotten.”
Another WPIX colleague alerted the station to the post. Evseroff claimed it was just a news story he was sharing, and he “had no opinion about it,” according to HR records.
Another WPIX colleague alerted the station to the post. Evseroff claimed it was just a news story he was sharing, and he “had no opinion about it,” according to HR records. But the station deemed the Facebook post a violation of the company’s social media policy, saying it gave WPIX owner Tribune Media a black eye because it could be “perceived” as racist.
“I feel heartbroken and morally and professionally violated,” Evseroff told The NY Post.
“I love my job. I am good at my job. I love telling stories to change lives. I was honest, upfront, and open as sharing the meme as a news story. I told the truth and when they didn’t like my truth they invented their own,” Evseroff, who worked for WPIX since 1997, told The Post.
He believes his troubles began with Choudhury and that her “false” HR complaints the year before were the “predicate” for his firing, according to court papers.
The Channel 11 journalist alleged Evseroff made “rude remarks” about “black people and poor people” and the neighborhoods the pair reported from, according to the documents. “I never said anything racist or sexist to [Choudhury] or online,” Evseroff claimed in an interview.
H/T NY Post
