BOSTON — Former WBZ-TV anchor Kate Merrill has filed a $4 million federal lawsuit against WBZ, CBS, Paramount Global, and several station employees, alleging she was unfairly demoted and forced to resign based on what she describes as false and discriminatory accusations of racial bias.
In a 57-page complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston, Merrill—whose legal name is Katherine Merrill Dunham—claims that WBZ and its parent companies conducted a “career-ending” investigation rooted in corporate diversity initiatives, while disregarding her long-standing record as a respected journalist and colleague.
“In the early 2020s, WBZ-TV, adopted diversity, equity and inclusion policies imposed by its parent corporations Columbia Broadcasting System and Paramount Global, Inc.,” the complaint states. “In 2024, WBZ-TV exploited such policies and took career-ending action against Ms. Merrill to advance a DEI agenda.”
Merrill names WBZ-TV, Columbia Broadcasting System, Paramount Global, WBZ General Manager Justin Draper, Paramount VP of Employee Relations Michael Roderick, meteorologist Jason Mikell, and anchor Courtney Cole as defendants. She is seeking damages for race and gender discrimination, defamation, tortious interference, and wage violations.
Merrill says she was punished after supporting new hires
Merrill joined WBZ in 2004 and was promoted to co-anchor of WBZ This Morning and WBZ News at Noon in 2017. She had previously worked at WNBC in New York and WKRN in Nashville, where she earned an Emmy for tornado coverage. The lawsuit details a history of mentoring colleagues regardless of race and producing stories highlighting people of color.
“She opened the doors to her home to and befriended colleagues, regardless of race (or any protected category), and mentored any person – regardless of race (or any protected category) – who reached out and asked for her assistance trying to establish themselves in broadcast news,” the complaint reads.
But in 2024, according to the suit, Merrill’s support for her less experienced coworkers—including Mikell and Cole—was misinterpreted and/or turned against her. She says she privately corrected Mikell’s pronunciation of “Concord” during a commercial break on April 3, 2024, which led to an angry confrontation from Mikell on the studio floor.
“He literally walks over and freaks out,” Jordyn Jagolinzer, the fill-in traffic reporter, wrote in a text message on April 3, 2024 to Breana Pitts, who is on WBZ’s Morning Team, and included in the complaint. “Like so unprofessional. I was like is he really starting an argument in front of everyone – mic’d up…”
Merrill reported the incident to human resources. But one week later, she says she was told she was the subject of an internal investigation based on complaints from Mikell and Cole alleging microaggressions and unconscious bias.
“Ms. Merrill’s complaint about Defendant Mikell’s aggressive confrontation had been cast aside, as had Ms. Merrill’s Executive Producer’s earlier complaint to News Director Mr. Lopez about Defendant Mikell’s inappropriate on-air sexually charged innuendo about her,” the complaint reads.
That alleged sexual innuendo occurred in February 2024, when Mikell implied on air that Merrill and her co-anchor had “hooked up at a gazebo.” The lawsuit says station management took no disciplinary action.
Investigation allegedly ignored key witnesses
According to Merrill, Paramount’s VP of Employee Relations Michael Roderick led the investigation but failed to interview key witnesses, including several colleagues of color she had worked with closely for years—such as sportscaster Levan Reid and former WBZ News Director Johnny Green Jr.
“Defendant Roderick’s investigation was not adequate, thorough, or impartial,” Merrill alleges.
The complaint states that several of the allegations raised by Mikell were based on normal workplace interactions taken out of context. One example involved Merrill not routinely asking Mikell about his weekends—an omission he allegedly interpreted as race-related. Merrill’s attorneys argue that this was due to “the demands on Ms. Merrill’s time and extremely busy schedule in the mornings,” and that she “did not ask any colleagues about their weekends during that time.”
Another allegation stemmed from a lighthearted on-air segment prompted by producers Aileen Pollard and Victoria Love, who encouraged the anchors to make a “Dirty Job” reference during banter about Mikell’s “Do Your Job” segment. In response, Merrill joked that Mikell could be a garbage collector, while her co-anchor Chris Tanaka said Mikell could pick strawberries. According to the complaint, the comment was later cited as evidence of unconscious bias, though Merrill contends it was part of a scripted segment and not racially motivated.
“Ms. 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 says.
The written warning issued on May 17, 2024, concluded that Merrill’s behavior reflected unconscious bias and microaggressions and had created a “very unwelcoming work environment.” She was required to complete unconscious bias training and warned that further violations could lead to termination.
Roderick ultimately concluded that Merrill’s behavior was “grounded in microaggressions or unconscious bias” and created “a very unwelcoming work environment,” according to the written warning issued May 17, 2024. Merrill was ordered to undergo unconscious bias training and warned that any similar conduct could lead to termination. Although the letter stated the matter was closed, Merrill was demoted the same day.
Merrill says she was then immediately demoted to weekend nights, and that WBZ General Manager Justin Draper publicly announced her demotion during two staff-wide meetings on May 20.
“Demoting Ms. Merrill in the context of the investigation her sent the false message to her professional colleagues that she had engaged in serious wrongdoing,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant Draper unnecessarily broadly announced Ms. Merrill’s demotion, humiliating her. In so doing, Defendant Draper acted with malice and ill will.”
Merrill’s lawsuit states that Draper’s announcement of her demotion was much more humiliating/harsh than the demotions of male anchors at WBZ.
“WBZ/CBS/Paramount treated her significantly more harshly than…men at WBZ who had been accused of or been found to have engaged in wrongdoing,” the lawsuit states.
According to the complaint, other employees—including Mikell and another male reporter accused of physically throwing a colleague against a wall—were not disciplined.
‘Constructive discharge’ and non-compete clause
Merrill resigned four days later, on May 24, 2024, citing “constructive discharge.” Her contract included a non-compete clause that barred her from returning to broadcasting until June 1, 2025. She also alleges that WBZ failed to pay her for 20 days of unused vacation time—an alleged violation of Massachusetts wage law.
“To date, Defendants WBZ/CBS/Paramount still have not paid Ms. Merrill for her accrued, unused vacation due and owing,” the lawsuit states.
Broader claims about corporate DEI policies
The complaint also criticizes CBS and Paramount for what it describes as systemic reverse discrimination stemming from top-down diversity mandates. It references prior allegations against CBS executives, including reports that hiring decisions were sometimes made on the basis of race to improve diversity metrics.
“In short, WBZ/CBS/Paramount adopted and began to implement policies of reverse discrimination,” the lawsuit claims.
Merrill is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for:
- Discrimination based on race and gender,
- Failure to investigate her complaints,
- Defamation based on how her demotion was handled,
- Tortious interference with her employment,
- And late payment of wages.
She has requested a jury trial. As of Wednesday, the defendants had not filed a formal response.
