Defamation case against Nexstar to move forward, judge says
The federal judge overseeing the case against the broadcaster said the former news managers have “cleared the plausibility hurdle.”
WOOD-TV (Channel 8) is the NBC affiliate serving the Grand Rapids, Michigan television market. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
The federal judge overseeing the case against the broadcaster said the former news managers have “cleared the plausibility hurdle.”
Stanton Tang is fighting a request to have his defamation lawsuit tossed out of court, saying an edict to circulate a memo about his station’s Pride Month coverage last year was within the scope of his job.
Stanton Tang and Amy Fox sued about a year after their firings, claiming Nexstar defamed them in statements about their Pride Month memo.
The executives, Stanton Tang and Amy Fox, were fired last year for a memo that encouraged employees to pull back on Pride Month coverage.
A failure at a broadcast hub used by Nexstar left one Michigan NBC affiliate with access to a highly-anticipated NFL game.
Stanton Tang has joined religious-oriented WCSG Radio after being fired by WOOD-TV for orchestrating a controversial memo earlier this year.
Nexstar Media has fired a Michigan television news director who orchestrated an anti-gay memo circulated among employees in June.
Exclusive: Nexstar’s SVP of Local Content Development Susan Tully said journalists at WOOD-TV responded inappropriately to an anti-gay memo written by their boss.
Exclusive: Employees said they viewed a memo written by Stanton Tang as an intimidation tactic meant to limit their participation in last year’s primary election.
Exclusive: Allegations of workplace harassment, bullying and mismanagement often went ignored, even when they were well-documented, according to numerous people.