A pair of former Nexstar Media Group employees who sued the broadcaster for defamation and wrongful termination are one step closer to having their case heard before a jury.
A final settlement conference ordered by a federal judge overseeing two related lawsuits brought by former WOOD-TV (Channel 8, NBC) News Director Stanton Tang and Assistant News Director Amy Fox came and went last week with no agreement to end the case, according to court records reviewed by The Desk.
Tang and Fox held their final settlement conferences on June 4, court records show. It wasn’t clear what was offered or discussed during the hearing, which was held before U.S. District Judge Ray Kent. A preliminary settlement conference was held last year in both cases.
Both former employees sued Nexstar in 2024, about a year after they were fired from WOOD-TV. The broadcaster said Fox and Tang violated company policy by writing and circulating a memo that urged the station’s reporters to pull back on their coverage of Pride Month events in the community.
The station’s reporters were told that Pride Month coverage could upset viewers, who might have strong opinions about certain events. WOOD-TV broadcasts to the Grand Rapids metropolitan area, where some communities have strong conservative populations.
The memo, written by Fox at Tang’s direction, reminded reporters that WOOD-TV’s audience was politically conservative, and that viewers might express reservations about Pride Month news coverage.
An internal investigation was launched by Nexstar after copies of the memo leaked to other news outlets, drawing a considerable amount of attention to WOOD-TV for about a month. After the investigation, Fox and Tang were fired, as were two journalists suspected of leaking the memo.
The lawsuits filed by Fox and Tang largely take issue with the reasons they were fired — they contend that their actions, including the memo, were in line with Nexstar’s editorial policies. They further argue that statements made by Nexstar’s Chief Communications Officer Gary Weitman to reporters at CNN and other outlets were defamatory and violated certain state privacy laws.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker denied a request by Nexstar to have the case dismissed, saying Tang and Fox properly alleged defamation because statements made by Weitman on behalf of Nexstar could mislead people into believing the pair were anti-gay. Jonker also said Nexstar could be liable for violating a state law that prohibits employers from disclosing certain information when a worker is fired.
The lack of a settlement stemming from the court’s most-recent hearing sets the stage for the case to be heard in front of a jury, which is likely to occur later this year or early next year. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for July, during which the court will schedule dates for empaneling the juries and proceeding with the trials. It is not clear if Fox and Tang’s cases will be tried concurrently or separately.
All sides could still negotiate a settlement out of court, avoiding a jury trial. Any such settlement would require the approval of the court, though judges rarely block them when the agreements end ongoing litigation.
The defamation case is one of several high-profile legal matters involving Nexstar. The company continues to fight a federal antitrust lawsuit brought by several stats attorneys general and DIRECTV over its $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA, which closed in March. A similar lawsuit involving Nexstar and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working its way through the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
