Several discrimination claims and patterns of bias treatment raised by two news anchors draws statement from CBS 58 general manager.
By H. Nelson Goodson
September 13, 2013
Milwaukee, WI - On Friday, James "Jim" Hall, the CBS 58/Weigel Broadcasting VP/General Manager released a brief statement regarding two discrimination claims and patterns of bias treatment at the television station by management. Two discrimination claims were filed with the EEOC by Shari Dunn, a weekend news anchor at CBS 58 and Carlos Vergara, a news anchor for Telemundo 63. Dunn is African-American and Vergara is Hispanic. Both of them are expected to filed a class action lawsuit in federal court.
Dunn claims she has been paid less than male counterparts and Vergara alleged that he has not been given an opportunity to anchor on CBS 58 as it was promised when he got hired.
Hall stated, "We have received copies of the discrimination charges that were filed by two employees with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Weigel Broadcasting Co. - Milwaukee has a strong commitment to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination. We take any such allegations very seriously, and we are reviewing them with our legal counsel. However, as a policy, we do not comment on pending legal matters. We look forward to addressing these matters through the legal process."
On Tuesday, Eric Ellis, a photojournalist abruptly quit his job at CBS 58 WDJT-TV citing a lack of safety concerns by management, according to an e-mail released on Thursday to mediabistro dot com/TVSpy. Ellis had worked at WDJT-TV for only seven months.
Vergara has more than 18 years of experience in news reporting, producing and anchoring. Vergara's career includes producing in New York City, shooting news in Maryland and Georgia, reporting and anchoring in California, Virginia, Miami and Milwaukee. He also worked for the RCN TV Network in Bogota, Colombia and had been anchoring the nightly news on Telemundo 63 in Spanish, according to CBS 58 website.
Dunn is a graduate of Nicollet High School and Marquette University. She joined CBS 58 in February 2009.
