Was longtime KHON-TV reporter Mary Zanakis reassigned, then later fired because she took maternity leave? Or was she fired because of budgetary constraints, poor work performance and lack of professionalism? Lawyers conclude arguments
in reporter’s employment case
By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comThe decision will be up to a jury of three men and three women who began deliberating yesterday in the civil case filed by Zanakis in U.S. District Court against her former employer.
Zanakis, who now works for KITV-4, contends that Emmis Communications Corp., Emmis Television Broadcasting LP, former KHON General Manager Kent Baker and then-News Director Jim McCoy violated her rights under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.
She said they failed to restore her to her former position on the morning news and later fired her because she had taken maternity leave in early 1999. She is seeking $770,000 in past and future wage losses or reinstatement to her previous position.
Attorney Bruce Voss for KHON-TV argued that Zanakis was reinstated to an equivalent reporting position on the evening news where she could still do medical stories. She also continued with the same salary and same benefits. Zanakis was the highest-paid reporter at KHON at the time, making in excess of $71,000.
Voss said KHON had legitimate business reasons for firing Zanakis, and they had "absolutely nothing to do" with the Family Medical Leave Act. Among the reasons cited was that KHON wanted to use part of her salary to hire Tina Shelton, whom they regarded as the best investigative reporter in town.
Zanakis, who had been working at KHON for 18 years, took leave in January 1999 to care for her newborn child. Just before she returned to work on March 25, McCoy called her to say that the morning health-reporter position had been eliminated, and she would be a general assignment reporter for the evening news. Less than three months later, she was notified that she was being fired "for budgetary reasons."
McCoy had testified that KHON was not getting "bang for its buck" from Zanakis and could not afford to continue paying her $71,000 a year to read two or three health segments on the morning news.
Because she had previously refused to sign a contract, she was an at-will employee who could be fired at any time for no reason unless prohibited by federal law, Voss said.
Morning anchors Ron Mizutani and Leslie Wilcox also had complained to McCoy that Zanakis was hurting the morning news by not acknowledging them on the show, refusing to be a team player and creating conflict. Mizutani said Zanakis' stories were weak and showed no initiative.
When asked to describe Zanakis' work as compared with Shelton, KHON evening anchor Joe Moore took several seconds before saying, "That's like asking a football fan to evaluate an NFL all-pro player and a high school player.
"They play the same sport, but you're talking worlds apart in leagues and caliber and how they execute things," he said.
Zanakis testified no one told her or gave her any indication that her work performance or product was lacking or that she was hurting the morning news.
Zanakis' attorney, Thomas Pico Jr., said Zanakis lost status when she was demoted from morning health news anchor who developed her own stories and wrote and produced them to a general assignment reporter who was assigned stories and had less authority.
He said the right to be restored to an equivalent position is a critical element of the Family Medical Leave Act, and without it the act is meaningless.
"You still get the 12 weeks, but if you lose your job that you earned, you worked 18 years to get ... you'll think twice about taking family leave," he said.
Voss said Zanakis has shown no evidence that her taking maternity leave was a negative factor in her termination.
"She thought she was doing a good job and had no reason to be terminated, so in her mind the reason must be FMLA," he said. "That's not enough."
