Former KCTV-5 news anchor Karen Fuller settles age and gender discrimination lawsuit
A former Kansas City television news anchor has settled her age and gender discrimination lawsuit against the owner of KCTV-5.
Karen Fuller filed suit last year in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., against the Meredith Corporation, owner of the Fairway-based station.
Settlement details were not made public.
Fuller’s suit alleged that the company created an “age ceiling” for female news anchors.
After a 12-year stint at the station, her contract was not renewed in 2015 when she was 47, according to the suit.
Her dismissal came “without prior warning, cause or legal justification,” the suit alleged.
“In the eyes of Meredith Corporation, women news anchors like Ms. Fuller, unlike their male counterparts, simply become too old to deliver the news,” she alleged in the lawsuit.
The judge presiding over the case filed an order Monday dismissing the case without prejudice, meaning that either side could request that it be re-opened.
The sides have until January 31 to file a written stipulation of dismissal. If the stipulation is not filed, then Monday’s court order will constitute the final judgment and the case cannot be re-filed.
