What Will People Think?

Back in May of 2020, FTVLive told you that Tegna’s KARE (Minneapolis) fired Weather Anchor Sven Sundgaard for violating company policy.

Sundgaard has sinced sued KARE and Tegna and he levels a number of claims.

In his lawsuit, he says that no long after being hired in 2006, he began telling his co-workers he was gay. In 2010, he converted to Judaism.

The Duluth News-Tribune writes that when Sundgaard appeared on the cover of local LGBTQ magazine Lavender in 2007, he said the news director at the time, Tom Lindner, was irate and asked Sundgaard, “What are people going to think?” Sundgaard said he reported the comment to human resources but never received a follow-up.

After converting to Judaism, Sundgaard said, news director Jane Helmke asked whether he “still believed Jesus was the Messiah.” Sundgaard called the comment “invasive” and said it made him uncomfortable and unsure how to respond.

The lawsuit also details an incident from early 2011 when Lindner allegedly sent Sundgaard “a hostile email regarding a promotional photoshoot Sundgaard had done, copying many coworkers.” An open-door meeting with Lindner ended with the news director screaming “Get the (expletive) out of my office,” according to Sundgaard, who said that once again a report to human resources went nowhere.

According to the lawsuit, Sundgaard reported “similar incidents of differential treatment toward him based, in part, on his sexual orientation and prior reports of discrimination or harassment. No matter how many times he reported, the hostility and differential treatment continued.”

He is asking for nearly $400,000 in the lawsuit against the station.