Ex-anchorwoman files age bias suit against KIRO-TV

More than a year after parting ways with KIRO-TV, former anchorwoman Susan Hutchison is suing the station for abandoning her for a younger woman.

In documents filed Friday in King County Superior Court, Hutchison, 49, claims the station discriminated against her based on race and age when it hired Kristy Lee, 33, an Asian American, to replace her on the 5 p.m. news.

Hutchison, who is white, claims in the papers that she was fired in December 2002.

But KIRO general manager John Woodin disputes that claim, saying she had resigned. Hutchison's attorney, Jon Rosen, of Seattle, offered no comment yesterday.

Hutchison joined KIRO as an anchorwoman in 1981, part of the vanguard of women moving to top TV newsroom positions since the 1980s. For years, she had rounded out a quartet of blond, veteran talent who held the top anchorwoman spots at rival stations: KING-TV's Jean Enersen, KOMO-TV's Kathi Goertzen and KCPQ-TV's Leslie Miller.

But in September last year, Hutchison went on paid leave from the station after being shuffled from more prominent evening newscasts to the noon show.

She has not worked in television news since.

Other lawsuits alleging discrimination on various grounds have been filed against KIRO and other Seattle stations. A 1996 sex-discrimination case against KIRO by former anchorwoman Nerissa Williams was settled out of court.

Indeed, lawsuits against television stations are not uncommon. But in most cases, they are settled out of court since the plaintiffs often do not want to risk their careers by being seen as troublemakers and the defending stations don't want negative publicity.

The modern era of age- and sex-discrimination suits began with Kansas City, Mo., anchorwoman Christine Craft in 1986, whose boss famously told her she was "too old, too unattractive and not deferential enough to men." But Craft's award subsequently was overruled.

In 1999, Janet Peckinpaugh was awarded $8.3 million in a sex-discrimination suit against a Connecticut station.

The landmark judgment made Peckinpaugh into something of a national celebrity, winning praise from the likes of Diane Sawyer, who called her her "hero," and Dan Rather.

Unlike television reporters, news anchors often work under contracts in which they effectively trade job security for a higher salary.

"When you're an anchor, you're basically kind of a free agent," said KING anchor Lori Matsukawa. "That's not to say that you cannot experience age or racial discrimination, but it's kind of understood when you sign a contract for an anchor position that the compensation allows the company more freedom to keep you or let you go. You know that you're working at the pleasure of the station."

Hutchison's departure from KIRO came shortly after the arrival of news director Helen Swenson. The decision to move Hutchison from evening newscasts was an effort to boost KIRO's flagging ratings, court documents said.

In an interview with The Seattle Times in July 1999, Hutchison said, "When I got to KIRO, the news director was absolutely gender blind. I didn't realize what a gift that was until after he left."

KIRO viewers may note that several familiar faces have left the station in the past 18 months, including meteorologist Harry Wappler, sports anchor Tony Ventrella and news anchor Joyce Taylor.

But Ventrella, now a morning field anchor and sports anchor for KCPQ, said that's merely a coincidence.

"Those are definitely not tied together," said Ventrella, a 20-year veteran of the Puget Sound news market who resigned from KIRO last year.

Meanwhile, it's likely KIRO will argue its hiring of Lee brought diversity to a market whose most enviable anchoring slots are dominated by Caucasians.

Complicating matters, KIRO's ratings have improved somewhat since Lee arrived, though that also may be attributable to an improved prime-time lineup for the CBS affiliate.

Times reporter Ian Ith, TV critic Kay McFadden and researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report. Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com