In Los Angeles in late May, KCBS-TV Channel 2 on-air personnel Jeff Michael, Garth Kemp, Sharon Tay and Sandra Mitchell, among others, were laid off in a cost-cutting move.I’M KIND OF A BIG DEAL: Scott Sams is the new morning man at CBS Channel 11. The EEOC settlement follows companywide layoffs and buyouts. "The EEOC argued to the court that CBS 11 preferred a younger, less qualified applicant, and that the employer defaulted to unfounded stereotypes about female reporters."ĬBS' treatment of station employees in Los Angeles also has come under scrutiny. “Tammy Campbell was clearly qualified for the position of traffic reporter,” Joel Clark, EEOC senior trial attorney in Dallas, said this week in a statement. The EEOC sued CBS in 2017, alleging Campbell was passed over due to age discrimination. CBS hired Davis, who stayed at the station for nearly two years before returning to her native Arizona. Managers offered the job to a then-24-year-old former NFL cheerleader, Chelsey Davis, who had been working as a traffic reporter in Phoenix. The station twice passed over Campbell for the job, each time offering it to a woman in her 20s who did not have five years of experience or a familiarity with Dallas and its traffic patterns.Īfter Zitzman, the station looked at three other candidates. Zitzman was offered the job in late 2014 but eventually declined, saying she wanted to remain in Colorado. "She's a little rusty and a little light on energy, but she can get there," Schneider wrote after Zitzman auditioned for the role. "She just had a spark to her," CBS KTVT Channel 11 General Manager Gary Schneider said in a deposition, describing Zitzman.īut Schneider expressed a different sentiment in internal emails. Zitzman, who lacked the requisite five years of experience, testified that she had never been to Dallas before her CBS job interview. Before joining CBS, Campbell worked for more than a decade at Dallas' NBC-owned station.īut instead of hiring Campbell, CBS station executives in Dallas recruited a 28-year-old reporter, Amanda Zitzman, who had worked in Jacksonville, Fla. When Campbell was a regular presence on KTVT's morning show, the station's ratings improved, according to the court filings. She already had been working at CBS' Channel 11 for nearly two years as a freelance reporter. When the traffic reporter position came open in 2014, Campbell applied for the job. One of the station's criticisms of Campbell was that she once ended a traffic segment by winking toward the camera. "We need to look at everyone on this show, including the anchors," one station executive wrote, mentioning a veteran female anchor who the manager said was "starting to look outdated and tired."Ĭampbell, the traffic reporter, had limited support among the Dallas station leaders but not among CBS executives in New York. In one March 2014 email, CBS station managers in Dallas debated why the station was stuck in fourth place in the ratings. The Texas stations are part of New York-based ViacomCBS, which owns 29 television stations, including two Dallas/Fort Worth stations: KTVT Channel 11 and KTXA Channel 21.Ĭourt documents in the case shined a harsh light on CBS. In her court filings, Gillen called CBS a “good ole boys club” that “protects men despite bad behavior.” CBS admitted no liability in the agreement. The settlement comes six months after CBS settled a separate age-discrimination lawsuit in South Florida brought by an award-winning investigative reporter, Michele Gillen. “We are pleased this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” KTVT-TV said in a statement. The EEOC settlement with the CBS Stations Group of Texas was approved July 12 by U.S. In addition, CBS agreed to pay Campbell $215,000 for "backpay and all other damages," according to the agreement.ĬBS admitted no wrongdoing. As part of the settlement, CBS' Dallas stations entered into a consent decree that forbids discrimination or retaliation against people who speak out against any unlawful practices, according to the settlement document.
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