ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A FORMER NEWS ANCHOR at WROV (96.3-FM) claims she was "systematically harassed, intimidated, discouraged and humiliated" before finally being fired.
The former news anchor of a Roanoke radio station is claiming she was fired by supervisors who told her that black people do not work well with the station's format.
Helen R. Cunningham made the allegations in a $500,000 racial discrimination lawsuit filed Wednesday in Roanoke Circuit Court.
The lawsuit states that Cunningham was fired from WROV (96.3-FM) in a "final act of discrimination and humiliation" after experiencing several years of harassment and intimidation at the rock 'n' roll station.
As the only black employed by the station in an on-air capacity, Cunningham lost that position in 1993 when then-general manager Michael Slenski gave her a new assignment, the lawsuit alleges.
Although the new job was promised to increase Cunningham's annual pay from $19,000 to $25,000, the lawsuit referred to it as a "token" position because it relieved her of the responsibilities she previously held as the station's news director and anchor. Also, the title and responsibilities of the new job were never fully explained to Cunningham, despite repeated requests, the lawsuit says.
When Cunningham confronted her supervisors about what she perceived to be racial discrimination, the lawsuit says, she was told that "blacks don't listen to the kind of music played by the radio station and that is why [the station] does not hire blacks; they don't know the format."
Slenski, who no longer works for WROV, declined to comment on the lawsuit. The station's current general manager could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
According to the lawsuit, filed by Roanoke lawyers Jonathan Kurtin and Emmette Pilgreen, Slenski and other employees at the station conspired to falsely accuse Cunningham of sexual harassment in 1995 after she was told that she should quit.
After Cunningham was "systematically harassed, intimidated, discouraged and humiliated," she was fired Jan. 3, according to the lawsuit.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB