White Anchor Fired for Lamenting Black-on-Black Murders Launches Discrimination Lawsuit
“Had an African-American journalist said the same thing, it wouldn’t have generated the same quote-outcry-unquote."
6.21.2016
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As TruthRevolt previously reported, an 18-year, Emmy-winning veteran for Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV news station was fired after posting to social media about her frustration with rampant black-on-black murders happening on a daily basis in her city. Now, she is launching a lawsuit against her former employer for discrimination.
Wendy Bell found out the hard way that speaking facts in public is no longer acceptable in modern America. In a March post to her professional Facebook page, Bell was reacting to the senseless murder of six people at a backyard barbecue from a couple of weeks prior. Here is part of what she wrote in her now-deleted post:
You needn’t be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts two weeks ago Wednesday. I will tell you they live within 5 miles of Franklin Avenue and Ardmore Boulevard and have been hiding out since in a home likely much closer to that backyard patio than anyone thinks. They are young black men, likely in their teens or in their early 20s. They have multiple siblings from multiple fathers and their mothers work multiple jobs. These boys have been in the system before. They’ve grown up there. They know the police. They’ve been arrested. They've made the circuit and nothing has scared them enough. Now they are lost. Once you kill a neighbor's three children, two nieces and her unborn grandson, there's no coming back. There's nothing nice to say about that.
In the post, Bell also complimented a young, black busboy at a restaurant she frequents after seeing his superb work ethic shine through his big smile. "I wonder how long it had been since someone told him he was special," she wrote.
Of course, she was labeled a racist for lamenting blacks being murdered in record numbers in Pittsburgh and accused of having a white savior complex for complementing an African-American worker.
And once the station read what she had written, the decision was made to fire her. Though previously heralded by her WTAE bosses for always exceeding their expectations" and embodying the station's "core values," Bell was now considered "inconsistent with the company's ethics and journalistic standards."
As The Washington Post reports, Bell, a mother of five, has launched a federal discrimination lawsuit against he former employer. Her attorney, Sam Cordes, said:
“Had an African-American journalist said the same thing, it wouldn’t have generated the same quote-outcry-unquote. What she said was benign at best. President Obama has said similar things.”
The suit claims that Bell wouldn't have been fired if she was black when she wrote those words, nor would she have been if she were writing about white crime. Bell is wanting her job back with back pay and compensated for attorney fees. The suit also claims that other anchors and reporters at WTAE weren't disciplined as Bell was when lewd comments were made to interns or even after one propositioned an undercover cop for sex.
While an employee, Bell won over 20 regional Emmy awards noting her broadcast excellence. She had such a connection to her viewers that the station bosses encouraged her to have more of a personal presence on her Facebook page. Bell is currently having trouble finding similar work due to a non-compete clause in her contract that doesn't expire until the end of March, 2017.
Honesty is not the best policy in the new America.
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