Meteorologist’s Contract Bars Jury Trial in Workplace Bias Case

A television meteorologist suing her employer can’t try her claims before a jury because she is bound by a clause in her contract barring it, a federal magistrate judge said.

Erin Little is suing Kansas City, Missouri-based KCTV5, alleging new managers who took over after an acquisition harassed, discriminated, and retaliated against her. The station, which suspended Little, opposed her request for a jury trial, pointing to a provision of her employment contract that provides claims can only be tried in a a bench trial.

The US District Court for the District of Kansas granted the station’s motion to strike ...