Former WBZ-TV anchor Kate Merrill sues station, alleging she was discriminated against because she is white

Boston Globe

4 hours ago

None of the defendants immediately responded to requests for comment on Wednesday morning. Merrill and her attorneys also couldn't be reached.
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In her $4 million suit, Merrill says Mikell, who joined the station in fall 2023, 'made an inappropriate sexual innuendo' about her on the air.
'Specifically, he implied that Ms. Merrill and her co-anchor had sexual relations at a gazebo,' the complaint says.
A video clip of the interaction couldn't immediately be located Wednesday.
The complaint says Merrill's executive producer complained to the station's news director about the incident, but Mikell 'was not disciplined for his sexually charged remark about Ms. Merrill.'
On April 3, 2024, Merrill texted Mikell during a commercial break about his on-air pronunciation of Concord, according to the complaint.
'Hey Boo,' Merrill texted Mikell, according to the complaint. 'For both Concord MA and NH it's Conquered never Con-Chord [smiley heart emoji].'
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'That's what I said,' Mikell replied.
After Merrill said he used the latter pronunciation 'a while ago,' Mikell responded, 'doubtful' and 'but OK,' the complaint says.
It says Mikell, a native of Mississippi, had previously asked Merrill to help him with pronouncing unfamiliar town names. Despite that, Mikell 'immediately confronted Ms. Merrill, loudly yelling at her on the studio floor and asserting that she was being critical of him,' the complaint said. 'His tone was aggressive and unprofessional.'
The complaint says Merrill immediately 'lodged a complaint' with WBZ's human resources department.
The filing also includes screenshots of texts from a colleague who witnessed the encounter and told another coworker that Merrill 'texted [Mikell] I guess, like, how to pronounce Concord cause he said it wrong he literally walks over and freaks out.'
On April 10, 2024, the complaint says, Roderick informed Merrill that an investigation was being launched into allegations she treated coworkers differently because of their race, adding that Cole and Mikell, who are both Black, 'simultaneously raised complaints' about her to Paramount's legal department.
From that conversation, the filing says, Merrill gleaned that Mikell had reported that she told him he would 'find his people' in Boston.
The complaint says Merrill meant to suggest Mikell would find 'a community of friends' in the Hub, but he 'apparently interpreted [the comment] as racist.'
Mikell also reported
to Paramount that Merrill 'was 'always' critical of him,' and that she 'did not ask him about his weekends, an omission he also apparently attributed to his race,' even though 'due to the demands on Ms. Merrill's time and extremely busy schedule in the mornings, she did not ask any colleagues about their weekends during that time,' the complaint alleges, adding that Merrill learned this based on 'Roderick's questions' to her.
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The complaint says Mikell also referenced a broadcast where producers prompted Merrill and a co-anchor to make a 'Dirty Job' reference as they bantered about Mikell's 'Do Your Job' segment.
Merrill suggested Mikell 'could work as a garbage collector' while her co-anchor said Mikell 'could pick strawberries,' he reported to Paramount, according to the complaint.
Merrill 'vehemently challenged the validity' of Mikell's allegations, the complaint says.
A written warning from higher-ups had said Merrill, when asked about the 'Dirty Jobs' dustup, had responded ''all my garbage collectors are white,' (or words to that effect), which assertion is categorically false,' according to the complaint.
Merrill 'stated that she did not understand how her on-air comment was a racist statement when she does not see, understand, or expect that a garbage collection job is or should be performed by persons of one race or another,' the complaint said.
The suit says Cole, meanwhile, complained that Merrill had told her she should go to Nashville, where Merrill used to work, because Cole could 'become the main anchor' in Music City.
Cole 'apparently interpreted a suggestion that she go to Nashville because it would be a better racial fit for Defendant Cole (who is Black) rather than a comment about career opportunities and how much she (Ms. Merrill) enjoyed Nashville,' the complaint says.
Merrill 'vehemently challenged' Cole's allegations, the complaint says. But on May 17, 2024, Roderick informed her that Paramount had 'corroborated' the complaints against her while being unable to substantiate her complaint against Mikell.
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Days later, at two separate staff meetings, Draper 'publicly announced to all WBZ personnel' that Merrill was being demoted from her coveted weekday morning anchor slot to working weekend nights, 'humiliating her.'
Merrill resigned on May 24, 2024, the complaint says, owing to 'the catastrophic damage a demotion would have caused her career, especially in the context of allegations that she was racist.'
The complaint says Merrill had long advocated for colleagues of color and alleged she was demoted 'to make an example of her, to attempt to make the point that CBS now took seriously complaints of racism allegedly perpetrated by White employees and was (is) not a racist organization.'
None of the defendants had filed responses in court to the lawsuit as of early Wednesday afternoon. A trial date hasn't been set.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. This story will be updated when more information is released.
Travis Andersen can be reached at