Seattle PI
Former KIRO-TV broadcaster Susan Hutchison was suspended by the station for a week without pay in July 2002 after she called in sick for the Fourth of July holiday but was then seen canoeing in Bend, Ore., according to lawsuit documents released Friday.
Hutchison, the longtime KIRO anchor and now a candidate for county executive, sued the station in 2003 after it replaced her with a younger woman. A King County judge sealed records in the case when when it was settled in 2005. Now that Hutchison is running for the nonpartisan executive’s office, news organizations, led by The Seattle Times, sought to have the records opened. On Friday a judge granted that request.
In the released documents Hutchison says the suspension and her eventual departure from the station were because she came to the aid of a co-worker who was being wrongly fired. More…