Shelly Sindland, a 15 year veteran TV reporter for Connecticut’s Fox 61, has apparently settled her age and gender discrimination claim against the Tribune Company.
The settlement followed a win by her against the Tribune and Fox 61/Courant publisher Richard Graziano with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
Shelly Sindland
The initial report by the CHRO found that the former anchor and reporter had reasonable cause. The CHRO 23-page investigative report concluded “the information gathered through the investigative process reveals that workplace conduct occurred that was unwelcome and offensive.”
Sindland’s complaint claimed editorial policies at the Hartford television station under Graziano’s management encouraged female anchors to wear tight tops on Fridays, which was nicknamed Big Boob Fridays, to boost ratings.
Kim Morris, an official in the CHRO Public Hearing office today confirmed for CTWatchdog that on November 9th Sindland and Tribune had a settlement conference. The referee on the case, Donna Maria Wilkerson Brillant wrote in the file the case has been settled, Morris said.
However, Morris also said that the stipulation agreement outlining the terms of the settlement has not yet been filed with the CHRO. A stipulation agreement can’t be filed until the money officially changes hands or is out of escrow, according to one employment lawyer.
The settlement amount could not be immediately determined. It’s unclear if the settlement has a typical gag order but neither Sindland nor her attorney could be reached for comment on the settlement. Tribune, owner of the Courant and Fox 61, had no comment.
CtNewsJunkie.com had written a thorough report on what the CHRO found about her allegations. You can go there to read the rest of the story.
CtWatchdog Editor & Publisher George Gombossy is also suing the Tribune and The Courant. His trial on his wrongful discharge claim is scheduled for November.
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[...] Case Settles Posted on January 6, 2011 by dubymcd According to CT Watchdog, former Fox61 political reporter Shelly Sindland has settled her age and discrimination case [...]
[...] According to CT Watchdog, Sindland had a settlement conference in November with Tribune Co. but that an official agreement has not yet been filed with CHRO. It is likely that the two parties have agreed to terms but that the settlement money has yet to exchange hands. [...]
[...] Teri Buhl at CTWatchdog.com reports: [...]
[...] Former Fox 61 reporter Shelley Sindland has settled her sexual discrimination case with FoxCT, CTWatchdog reports, but the terms of the deal have not yet been made public. [...]
Geoff Fox fired by WTNH…. and watch, a large-breasted bimbo is undoubtedly inbound. They are using the Fox News model of journalism: superficial, shallow, appeal to the primitive side.
The 4th Estate is dead.
At what point is television a “product” that can be managed just as other pop culture products are? Should all nightly news anchors be old and grey? Younger is always cheaper too and the corporation has no heart, so it will always opt for a cost saving way out.
The audience for tv news is slipping away and they tart it up to attract dirty old men to watch, not necessarily younger viewers. If you watch 61 now, it is not necessariy a t and a show, but a children’s news hour. some of those reporters look like high schoolers. Lets just have Playboy Enterprises purchase LIN television or the Courant and there would be no argument about how they “dress up” their product.
As for Sindland, she is right to complain and clearly the case shows ethics and sexist violations — but in the media world today, are we going to see every released or fired veteran of television news complaining ageism? I see her point and so did the judge on the sexism, but the complaints about age in a business that covets youth is something she and Jeffy KNEW getting into the biz
Why did it take a national reporter (Buhl) who covers bank and hedge fund fruad to figure out Sindland had settled with the Tribune. I can see why the Courant isn’t going to cover or follow up on the case but it’s not like Hartford doesn’t have other print papers or TV stations. Nice reporting George and Teri. Now we need to know if Shelly will ever be employed again or if she got enough to retire.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul H. Begemann Esq, Sean O'Leary. Sean O'Leary said: I love how seriously the Courant and Fox 61 take themselves, yet their big plan to boost ratings was Big Boob Fridays http://j.mp/dVP1GU [...]