| August
28, 2002
Ex-Fox
New Anchor Protests Release
Former WTXF Channel 29 news anchor
Rich Noonan, 40, who was replaced by black anchor Dave Huddleston, has
filed a complaint against his former employers alleging racial
discrimination.
He'll be represented by attorney
Richard A. Sprague, who recently headed Allen Iverson's legal team, and
Sprague's son, Thomas A. Sprague.
Noonan, who is white, was released
in February. He filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human
Relations Commission July 10 against the station, WTXF vice president
and general manager Roger LaMay and news director Scott Matthews.
"It is the most blatant case
of racism I have ever seen," said Noonan. "I was a model
employee who lost his job because of the color of his skin. I am
an eight-time Emmy winner who anchored for seven years in a top-five
market who was replaced by a morning anchor from Minneapolis.
In a statement issued yesterday,
LaMay said, "Fox Television Stations of Philadelphia categorically
denies that unlawful considerations of face played any role watsoever in
any employment decision affecting its former anchorman, Rich Noonan, or
in its subsequent and independent decision to hire Rich's replacement |