Award-winning news anchor claims she was demoted for being white amid 'DEI' craze at CBS

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A glamorous news anchor has filed a lawsuit against CBS and accused the network of demoting her because she is a 'white woman' and did not fit their 'DEI agenda.'
Katherine Merrill Dunham, an Emmy-award winning broadcaster and the wife of ex-Rangers goalie Mike Dunham, lodged the bombshell legal filing this month.
The 51-year-old was a longtime employee of CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. Her lawsuit names both CBS and Paramount Global as the station's parent company.
She sensationally quit on air in 2024, but now claims she was forced out due to diversity, equity and inclusion quotas at the network.
In the suit, Merrill claimed that managers said the morning show was 'too white' and that she was targeted with 'malicious' race-based complaints, the NYPost reported.
Paramount and CBS allegedly rolled out sweeping diversity mandates and around that time, executives described WBZ as 'the whitest of all their stations.'
Merrill claimed in her suit that executives vowed to only hire minorities for the network from then on.
The 51-year-old was a longtime employee of CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. Her lawsuit names both CBS and Paramount Global as the station's parent company
Katherine Merrill Dunham, an Emmy-award winning broadcaster and the wife of ex-Rangers goalie Mike Dunham, lodged the bombshell legal filing this month
Merrill joined WBZ in 2004 and became co-anchor of WBZ This Morning in 2017. In 2022, the network hired Japanese American anchor Chris Tanaka, and in 2023, black meteorologist Jason Mikell joined the team, replacing white former colleagues, the suit stated.
'WBZ-TV exploited such policies and took career-ending action against Ms. Merrill to advance a DEI agenda,' the complaint stated.
According to the suit, much of the drama began after Mikell allegedly 'made an inappropriate sexual innuendo about' Merrill 'on air' in February 2024.
He allegedly 'implied that Ms. Merrill and her co-anchor had sexual relations at a gazebo.'
Merrill's suit states Mikell was not formally 'disciplined for his sexually charged remark about Ms Merrill.'
Weeks after the incident, Merrill claims she sent Mikell a text message to correct his mispronunciation of a word, and that in turn he allegedly 'loudly yelled at her on the studio floor.'
Merrill claims she filed a complaint with HR, but that it went unanswered and that she was later accused of racial bias.
Mikell allegedly filed another complaint claiming Merrill told him he would 'find his people' in Boston, claiming that the remark was racially charged. In another complaint he filed, he allegedly said Merrill on one occasion failed to ask him 'about his weekend, an omission he apparently attributed to his race.'
Merrill joined WBZ in 2004 and became co-anchor of WBZ This Morning in 2017
By May 17, 2024, Merrill had been formally accused of engaging in 'microaggressions or unconscious bias' and was ordered to undergo unconscious bias training.
She was then demoted from morning anchor to weekends, a move which was announced in two staff meetings.
'Demoting Ms. Merrill in the context of the investigation sent the false message to her professional colleagues that she had engaged in serious wrongdoing,' the lawsuit said.
Merrill opted to resign seven days later.
According to Merrill's lawsuit, the male and minority colleagues she worked alongside did not receive equitable punishment for their own misconduct.
She said she has suffered significant financial losses and reputational damage, primarily due to her contract which runs to June 2025 and contains a non-compete clause.
Paramount has since scrapped its controversial DEI programs as a result of President Trump's executive orders.