Key Points
- A California appeals court upheld a $1.78 million jury award to former TV anchor Sandra Maas in an age discrimination case.
- The court found her employer unlawfully paid her less than a male co-anchor for equal work and retaliated against her.
- The ruling also affirmed more than $2.3 million in attorneys’ fees for Maas’ legal team.
A California court this week upheld a jury award of nearly $1.78 million to a former television news anchor who sued her employer for age discrimination nearly three years ago.
Sandra Maas sued McKinnon Broadcasting, the former owner of KUSI (Channel 51), in 2023, alleging the broadcaster violated state labor laws by paying her less than her male co-anchor, Allen Denton.
Maas testified at trial that she earned $120,000 per year, while Denton made $200,000 per year, despite both anchors doing the same amount of work.
By the time Denton retired in 2019, his salary had risen to $245,000, while Maas earned $180,000. She left the station later that year.
Attorneys for McKinnon argued that the pay difference was largely connected to experience, with Denton being a highly-sought anchor because of his extensive work in the broadcast industry.
But a jury rejected that argument, finding that both co-anchors peformed near-identical work and should have been paid equally. The jury awarded Maas $1.775 million in damages. McKinnon sold KUSI to Nexstar Media Group in 2023.
McKinnon appealed the award, arguing procedural errors in the trial. A three-judge panel at the appellate court rejected that argument this week, finding that none of them were “persuasive” enough to overturn the verdict or the award. The website NewsBlues was the first to report on the award early Thursday morning.
The appellate decision also leaves intact a jury finding that McKinnon retaliated against Maas by declining to renew her contract after she raised concerns about the pay disparity. Jurors in the 2023 trial concluded that Maas’ whistleblower claim was supported by evidence showing she faced adverse treatment after seeking equal compensation.
In addition to damages, the appeals court upheld an award of more than $2.3 million in attorneys’ fees for Maas’ legal team.
In a statement, Maas’ attorney said the ruling brought long-awaited closure to a case that tested both the state’s equal pay protections and the resilience of those who challenge workplace inequities.
