TheBuzz
TheBuzz
‘He said’ is pau;
now for ‘she said’The lawsuit filed by former KHON Sports Director and anchor Bob Hogue is over.
"We reached an amicable agreement. Due to the terms of the settlement, I can't say anything more," Hogue said.
Attorney Bruce Voss, a former KHON news reporter who now represents the station, would not comment but confirmed the settlement last week.
The suit filed earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, alleged age and race discrimination.
Hogue, who is Caucasian, was terminated in October of 1999 when he was 46 years old.
In the suit Hogue alleged that he was informed in a meeting with then-News Director Jim McCoy and then-General Manager Kent Baker that his position was vulnerable, in that on the air "We are too old and too white."
A younger, ethnically mixed Ron Mizutani later replaced Hogue as sports director and anchor.
Both the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission reviewed an initial claim by Hogue and issued him "right to sue" notices.
In its defense, the station's counsel gathered statements questioning Hogue's leadership of the sports department as well as the amount of time he spent away from the station.
Another suit, this one by former KHON reporter Mary Zanakis, is going through the motions, also in federal court.
Her suit alleges the station violated the Family and Medical Leave Act in reassigning her from morning news health anchor to general assignment reporter while she was out on 12-week maternity leave. She returned to work in March 1999 and was told on June 10 her general assignment reporter position would be eliminated effective June 18. She had worked at the station for 18 years and is now employed by KITV.
"The Zanakis lawsuit is both vindictive and meritless," said Voss.
A hearing on motions for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of several counts of Zanakis' suit, is scheduled for this month before Federal Judge David Ezra.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com