Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Appeals Judge Denies Age Discrimination Suit

'Casting' Decisions Are Protected Speech

Casting decisions made by local news networks qualify as protected speech and cannot be challenged in an employment discrimination lawsuit, a California appeals court ruled, according to Courthouse News.

Kyle Hunter
Meteorologist Kyle Hunter sued CBS Broadcasting in 2012 after he claimed its two LA-area affiliates - KCBS and KCAL - "repeatedly shunned him for numerous on-air broadcasting decisions due to his gender and age." He added that as early as 2010 network executives had decided to turn the primetime weather gig over to "younger attractive females."

Hunter claimed that KCAL even posted a "sham" job notice for its weather anchor position after it had already hired a young, blonde female to fill the position. He added that while he has 23 years of weather forecasting experience - and is certified by the American Meteorological Society - the new hire lacked certification and only had "two or three years of experience."

CBS moved to strike Hunter's complaint using the anti-SLAPP statute, an acronym for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, and argued that its selection of on-air personalities qualifies as protected speech. The stations' news director added that weather information is the main reason why people watch local news, and weather personalities have a significant impact on ratings as a result.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ramona G. See refused to dismiss Hunter's case, holding that CBS had failed to show its hiring decisions had anything to do with free speech in connection with a public issue.

On appeal, Second Appellate District Judge Laurie D. Zelon disagreed. She noted that numerous courts - mostly in the Second Appellate District - have held that reporting the news and creating TV shows count as free-speech activities.

"CBS's selections of its KCBS and KCAL weather anchors, which were essentially casting decisions regarding who was to report the news on a local television newscast, 'helped advance or assist' both forms of First Amendment expression," Zelon wrote. "The conduct therefore qualifies as a form of protected activity."

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