Television Anchor Sues Station for Discrimination after Stroke
Often, California employment lawyers see that a person who has suffered a serious illness finds that the medical condition also affects other areas of his life, including his employment. A television anchor who suffered a stroke on the air and was then subjected to discrimination and wrongful termination, has now filed a lawsuit against the television station.
The anchor Doug Rafferty, had served as the news anchor for many years at WGME-TV. According to the lawsuit that has been filed against the station, Rafferty, who is now 61 years old, was serving as a news anchor for Channel 13 in Portland when he suffered a stroke on air during a broadcast in January 2006.
He had fully recovered from his stroke by 2007, and since then, he has not suffered any recurrence of symptoms. However, according to the lawsuit, that did not stop the TV station from discriminating against him. At the time of the stroke, his salary was approximately $93,000, with additionals of up to $30,000 a year and other wages. However, after he suffered the stroke he lost his extras although he retained his base salary.
In 2007, the station general manager informed him that he was being removed from the chair, or from his anchor position. At the time of being replaced, Rafferty was 55 years old, and his replacement was a person in his early 40s. He did some broadcast work over the years, but over a period of time, was given more duties in the information technology and computer infrastructure departments. Then, in 2011, he was informed that his salary would be further cut from $93,000 to $45,000 because his new duties were not as demanding as the older ones.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, as well as monetary damages for lost wages and benefits.
