A former news anchor for a CBS affiliate station in Boston has sued her employer claiming she was discriminated against because she is white. Kate Merrill quit her job last year after being demoted from her previous position over claims of microaggressions.
A TV anchor at a local CBS station in Boston claims she was demoted from her job because she is a white woman — and alleged she fell victim to a “DEI agenda” that was raging out of control across the Tiffany Network, according to a bombshell lawsuit.
Katherine Merrill Dunham, a longtime anchor for CBS affiliate WBZ-TV known on air as Kate Merrill, filed suit against the station’s corporate parents CBS and Paramount Global this month alleging that she was run out of the newsroom to satisfy corporate diversity quotas…
In her Aug. 5 suit filed in Boston federal court, Merrill alleged she was targeted by managers who said the morning show was “too white” and by co-workers who filed “malicious” race-based complaints against her.
Scrolling through her X feed I found this clip of the station celebrating her 20 years of service with the station last March.
🎉We are celebrating @KateMerrill 20th anniversary at@wbztv today! Kate has covered so many big moments from politics to storm coverage & Patriots championships. She is a leader in our newsroom, an amazing mentor & an even better mom and friend. Congrats on 20 Kate!! XOXO 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/gwE2Ka5PMn
— Breana Pitts (@BrePWBZ) March 1, 2024
According to the lawsuit, things went very well for Merrill over her career for many years at WBZ:
WBZ promoted Ms. Merrill from reporter to anchor and then to anchor of more important newscasts and, in 2016, made her the lead 11 p.m. reporter and weekend anchor. In 2017, WBZ named Ms. Merrill co-anchor for WBZ This Morning and WBZ News at Noon.
Things started to change as CBS became more focused on DEI and fixing its “white problem.” Here’s how the DEI rolled downhill from the top.
Upon information and belief, in 2019, Whitney Davis, a veteran of CBS news and entertainment divisions, publicly alleged that CBS had a “White problem,” and other persons of color came forward to report a toxic, racist environment.2 Upon information and belief, CBS acted quickly in response and implemented a number of changes to increase diversity…
Upon information and belief, in May 2021, CBS hired Wendy McMahon as President, CBS News and Stations.
Under her leadership, CBS News and Stations “prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, hired and promoted several women and/or people of color to serve in key roles . . . .”7 In short, WBZ / CBS / Paramount adopted and began to implement policies of reverse discrimination…
Upon information and belief, Adrienne Roark, head of East Coast stations for CBS, including WBZ, began stating to managers and others at WBZ that the Morning Show was not diverse. She repeatedly said it was “too white,” that WBZ was “the least diverse station for on air talent” and the “whitest of all their stations” (or words to that effect) and that it (i.e., its personnel) had to change. Upon information and belief, Ms. Roark informed managers that she would allow only minority hires. Also, upon information and belief, a number of managers complained that Ms. Roark had handcuffed (i.e., prevented) hiring when they had no minority candidates and a qualified White candidate, whom they were not permitted to hire.
There’s more but you get the idea. Eventually, this mandate started resulting in staffing changes: [emphasis added]
In several conversations over the course of 2023, Mr. Lopez told Ms. Merrill that he wanted to move Ms. Merrill’s co-anchor Liam Martin, a White male, off the Morning Mix 9am show and replace him with Defendant Cole because the show was not diverse enough. Mr. Lopez began having Defendant Cole substitute on the morning show instead of Breana Pitts, a White anchor who had been the fill-in for years and was much more experienced than Defendant Cole…
In August 2023, meteorologist Zack Green, who is White, was let go from WBZ (but made to work through October 2023 due to a staffing shortage), although he had never been warned about any performance deficiencies….
In September 2023, WBZ hired Defendant Mikell, who is Black, as a meteorologist. Defendant Mikell, who is from southern Mississippi, informed Ms. Merrill when he joined WBZ that he was unfamiliar with the pronunciation of the names of local cities and towns and asked Ms. Merrill to assist him with pronunciation. Providing pronunciation tips is a courtesy that people in the industry extend to colleagues to help them when they relocate to a new market, and Ms. Merrill agreed.
Then there was an on-air incident that upset Merrill and her executive producer, but the News Director gave the new meteorologist a pass.
On February 22, 2024, Defendant Mikell made an inappropriate sexual innuendo about Ms. Merrill on air. Specifically, he implied that Ms. Merrill and her co-anchor had sexual relations at a gazebo. Upon information and belief, Ms. Merrill’s Executive Producer complained to News Director Mr. Lopez that Defendant Mikell had been inappropriate on air and showed him the videotape of the incident. Mr. Lopez did nothing, however, and upon information and belief Defendant Mikell was not disciplined for his sexually charged remark about Ms. Merrill.
Two months later, Merrill did correct Mikell’s pronunciation of a local city and he responded by shouting at her in front of fellow employees.
On April 3, 2024, during a commercial break, Ms. Merrill privately (via text message) corrected Defendant Mikell’s on-air pronunciation of a local town name (Concord) during his weather segment, as he had requested. (A screenshot of Ms. Merrill’s text to Defendant Mikell re: his pronunciation is attached at Exhibit E. Ms. Merrill’s texts are in blue; Mr. Mikell’s are in gray.))
Notwithstanding Defendant Mikell’s request for Ms. Merrill’s assistance with pronunciation of local town names, and the fact that Ms. Merrill texted him privately regarding his pronunciation of the name of the town Concord, Defendant Mikell immediately confronted Ms. Merrill, loudly yelling at her on the studio floor and asserting that she was being critical of him. His tone was aggressive and unprofessional. Ms. Merrill immediately lodged a complaint with WBZ’s Human Resources department.
Jordyn Jagolinzer, the fill-in traffic reporter on April 3, 2024 (the day Defendant Mikell publicly confronted Ms. Merrill), personally observed Mr. Mikell’s conduct toward Ms. Merrill that day. Ms. Jagolinzer contemporaneously texted Breana Pitts, who is also on WBZ’s Morning Team, about Defendant Mikell’s behavior, remarking: “She [Kate] texted him I guess like how to pronounce [C]oncord cause he said it wrong[.] [H]e literally walks over and freaks out[.]” and “Literally I had no idea these texts were going on[.] Jason just gets upset and like flips out, like so unprofessional.” and “I was like is he really starting an argument in front of everyone – mic’d up. . .”
And you can surely guess what happened. Merrill’s complaint about the unprofessional behavior was ignored. The investigator apparently never even spoke to the witness to the event and instead decided her complaint was unfounded. Instead, Merrill was told she was now the one under investigation.
Michael Roderick, Vice President, Employee Relations at Paramount, informed Ms. Merrill that an investigation was being conducted into allegations that she treated coworkers differently because of their race. Defendant Roderick informed Ms. Merrill that Defendant Mikell and Defendant Cole simultaneously raised complaints about her directly to the Legal Department at Paramount, bypassing entirely WBZ’s local employee relations teams’ complaint and investigation mechanism.
In May, she was told the result of the investigation. She had micro-aggressed and would need unconscious bias training.
Defendant Draper then immediately issued a Written Warning to Ms. Merrill. The Written Warning stated that Defendant Roderick had concluded that Ms. Merrill’s behavior was grounded in microaggressions or unconscious bias and created a very unwelcoming work environment. The Written Warning stated that Ms. Merrill would be required to complete unconscious bias training and warned that should she engage in any similar conduct in the future, she would be subject to further disciplinary action up to and including termination. The Written Warning also stated that the matter was considered closed.
She was demoted and, convinced that the allegations had permanent stained her reputation, she quit. Yesterday she posted a statement about her lawsuit on Facebook.
It is with profound sadness that I now find myself in the position of bringing a legal complaint against a station and company that I once considered part of my family.
This decision was not made lightly. It was made because I believe fairness must apply to everyone, regardless of race, gender, or background and I was not treated fairly.
Let me be clear: I support efforts to ensure newsrooms are reflective of the communities they serve. That is not what this case is about.
It’s about ensuring that no one is unjustifiably pushed aside simply because an organization wants to meet a target or an agenda.
There’s no telling how long it will take this case to go to trial. I hope she doesn’t settle.
WBZ’s Kate Merrill is not alone: More white workers are suing over racial bias https://t.co/XeFlpLVFGV
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) August 8, 2025
