An Emmy-winning journalist, multimedia reporter and producer who worked at the ABC affiliate in Detroit owned by The E.W. Scripps Co. until three years ago has unsuccessfully appealed a gender discrimination case filed against the company and its CEO, Adam Symson.
From June 2011 to May 2023, Kim Ursing offered breaking news reports and served as a general assignment reporter for WXYZ-7 in Detroit under the name “Kim Russell.”
Since then, Ursing, a University of Michigan MBA holder, has worked in financial service and today is a finance professional at The CFO Group, based from the Detroit suburb of Northville, Mich.
As Kim Russell, she became familiar with Detroit TV news viewers as a news anchor for WWJ-TV, the CBS News & Stations property. After a 10-month run that began in August 2010, she shifted to Fox Television Stations O&O WJBK-2 and remained there until joining WXYZ for nearly 12 years.
Before arriving in Detroit, Ursing served as an anchor/reporter at WOHL-TV in Lima, Ohio; as a reporter at WSMH-TV in Flint, Mich.; and as an anchor/reporter at WILX-TV in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Flint, and WEYI-TV in Saginaw-Bay City, Mich.
Ursing sued Scripps and individuals including Symson under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), alleging claims of discrimination. A trial court in Oakland County, Mich., ruled in favor of the defendants, leading her to appeal.
Ursing’s complaint stems from the hiring of a male colleague one year after she received a promotion, at a higher wage — even though they shared the same employment category. The unnamed male employee had five years of experience and also worked within the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
She noted how, across her career, she renewed employment contracts upon their expirations and received annual percentage-based raises. After 10 years at WXYZ, Ursing’s then-current contract was set to expire. As such, she entered contract negotiations with Scripps and local management. Ursing was less than satisfied with Scripps’ contract offer given the compensation, non-compete provision, and liquidated-damages clause. Ursing says she attempted to negotiate with Scripps but there was no avenue for amending the offer. The contract then expired; Ursing was told her services were no longer needed at WXYZ.
A few months later, Ursing filed the discrimination lawsuit, based on the disparity in salaries and a claim that WXYZ employees told her she had a “distracting” forehead.
Scripps responded by stating that Ursing was in the top five of highest-paid multimedia journalists at the station, and that the male counterpart in question was the only male who made more than plaintiff. The trial court ruled in favor of Scripps, in part because WXYZ had what the court determined to be a rational business reason for the pay disparity.
The appeals court agreed.
Why? It ruled that Ursing “failed to present direct evidence of discrimination based on her sex.”
What about the comments regarding her “distracting” forehead?
The three-judge appeals court panel determined that these comments were made outside the limitations period, and although they can be considered as background evidence, they cannot form the basis of an actionable discrimination claim.
“Plaintiff fails to show that her previous experience was comparable to her male counterpart and fails to establish that Emmy awards are a relevant factor in WXYZ’s compensation determinations,” the judges ruled. “The burden is on plaintiff to show that defendants’ reason for the pay discrepancy is a pretext, and she has failed to carry such burden. Furthermore, ‘the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff.’ It is difficult for plaintiff to meet such ultimate burden given that plaintiff was paid more than every male multimedia journalist except for one sole comparison male counterpart.”
