Former WBTS reporter Karen Hensel has filed a lawsuit against the station alleging sexual harassment and retaliation in federal court lawsuit.
Hensel, who now works for WSVN in Miami, said she was fired from NBC Boston in 2019 after failing to disclose that she was dating the police chief of a nearby town.
In the lawsuit, she claims she was fired because of “sexually harassing behavior” from a colleague the lawsuit named “Jane Doe” who was trying to “interfere with plaintiff’s work performance and career success in an effort to make Ms. Doe stand out as the leading female investigative reporter at the station.”
She also claims the station “raised no issues or concerns whatsoever regarding plaintiff’s personal relationship with a local police chief,” yet fired her anyway.
Hensel said a male assistant news director was not fired despite having a relationship with an on-air journalist which only came to light after anonymous complaints and “a reported confrontation at the station involving the male assistant and the spouse of the on-air journalist.”
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages, costs and attorneys’ fees.