Former STL forecaster gets $826,000 in discrimination suit

A former St. Louis meteorologist has been awarded $826,000 in a discrimination suit she brought against her former station.

Meghan Danahey, who now works at WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against KMOV, the CBS affiliate in the Gateway City then owned by Meredith.

She had been hired at KMOV in 2014 before eventually being fired in 2020. In her suit, Danahey cited the 2016 hire of now-retired news director Scott Diener as when things started becoming more challenging. 

Court filings noted that Danahey was then assigned to a weekend forecasting shift, which significantly reduced her airtime, as well as general reporting duties while male colleagues were given more favorable timeslots.

At one point, Danahey and another female co-worker were appearing on only seven forecasts a month, compared to the 40-plus those working the weekday shifts were delivering. 

It’s not uncommon for a change in management to also see talent shake-ups, though Danahey says she was receiving positive performance reviews. There are also stations that have weekend meteorologists perform other duties in order to fill out a full-time schedule, including filling in during the week, reporting or community outreach.

Her lawsuit also alleged intimidation by Deiner, who had been facing a separate lawsuit from Danahey’s legal team. That suit was resolved in April 2025 after a jury found in favor of Diener. Emails included in the suit showed extensive communication between HR and Deiner about Danahey.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Danahey’s paperwork said she was required to come into the station to work, while her male counterparts were given at-home studio setups.

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During the height of the pandemic, many stations attempted to reduce the number of staffers working out of their facilities. Sometimes newscasts were split-anchored from the studio and a co-anchor’s home, while at home forecasts became relatively common. As the pandemic went on, some of these practices were relaxed to the point of allowing some personnel to return to the building. Because weekends tend to see lower staffing levels, weekend shifts could have been seen as having more flexibility for allowing staffers to come in.

KMOV fired her later in 2020, claiming her termination was part of a broader restructuring of personnel. 

An uptick in layoffs was seen in 2020 as media companies adjusted to the economic shifts created by the pandemic along with broader cost-savings measures. 

The judge awarded Danahey $326,800 in lost wages plus $425,000 in punitive damages. Her legal costs of $70,040 will also be covered by the defendant, as well around $4,000 in moving and security expenses after she landed her job at WLOS. 

Danahey’s attorneys did note that after finding work in North Carolina, she was unable to make as much as she had been making.