A former news producer at a local television station operated by Nexstar Media Group has filed a federal lawsuit alleging racial and gender discrimination during her employment there, according to court records reviewed by The Desk.
The lawsuit, filed by former WPIX (Channel 11) producer Paris Carter, claims another employee was promoted over her during a leave of absence under New York’s paid medical leave law.
According to the complaint, Carter joined WPIX in August 2021 as an executive producer on the station’s evening newscasts. She was promoted to work during the day shift in the same role less than a year later, which increased her responsibilities to more than 2.5 hours of news per day.
Despite the promotion and increased workload, Carter said WPIX News Director Nicole Tindiglia denied her request for a pay raise and additional benefits-related compensation. After taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Carter, who is Black, returned to the station to discover a white male colleague had been promoted to oversee news production during the day shift. She was relegated back to her evening news producer role, the complaint says.
Carter also describes an October 2023 incident in which she was disciplined after helping complete a newscast that Tummino allegedly left unfinished. The lawsuit claims Tummino was not similarly disciplined.
Carter reported alleged racial discrimination to the station’s human resources department in November 2023. A few months later, she was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), a system Nexstar uses as the first step toward disciplining an employee. Carter alleges the PIP made false or unsupported performance-related complaints and was intended to justify her future termination from WPIX.
The PIP was dated March 2024 — around the same time that an Assistant News Director at the station sent discriminatory feedback concerning a news story she produced on a New York law related to police reporting requirements, Carter alleges. One week after receiving the PIP, Carter said she was effectively forced to resign because of hostile working conditions.
WPIX is licensed to and owned by Mission Broadcasting on paper; Nexstar operates the station as part of a shared services agreement that covers all other Mission Broadcasting stations across the country. That agreement extends to employing, promoting and firing workers at Mission-owned local TV stations, which is why Carter is suing Nexstar and the station.
Carter is seeking a jury trial and damages related to her alleged discrimination, negative performance reviews and eventual leave from WPIX. She is representing herself in the case, according to court records. A spokesperson for Nexstar Media Group declined to comment.
The lawsuit was filed on October 19, about a week after Nexstar was found liable for violating privacy laws in Michigan with respect to the termination of two former news directors at one of its licensed TV stations there.
In that case, a federal jury determined Nexstar and some of its executives did not discriminate against the news directors, Stanton Tang and Amy Fox, when terminating their employment and didn’t defame them when a spokesperson made comments to the press about their dismissals, but did violate state employment privacy laws by disclosing certain details about their terminations without notifying them first.
Fox was awarded $2.393 million at the end of the trial, with Tang awarded $1.683 million. A spokesperson for the company said Nexstar plans to pursue its available legal remedies, including a possible appeal.
Nexstar is scheduled to report its third quarter (Q3) earnings later this month.
