Monday, June 28, 2021

Coronavirus Update 6-28-2021: Television meteorologist April Moss correctly fired for on-air rant against employer’s Covid policies

WWJ CBS Detroit fired meteorologist April Moss after objecting on-air against her employer's COVID-19 policies. Moss paused her Father's Day weather forecast to say, "And speaking of a brand new week, I will be sitting down this week with Project Veritas to discuss the discrimination that CBS is enforcing on its employees. Tune in to Project Veritas for my full story." (Project Veritas is a controversial far-right activist group that uses hidden camera footage to attack its targets.)

In a statement about the termination, WWJ told AdWeek, "April Moss objected to WWJ-TV’s policies regarding Covid-19 testing and wearing masks inside our station, which are based on CDC, state and local guidelines. Any suggestion that she was in any way a victim of ‘discrimination’ due to her concerns about these policies is completely false. In fact, we allowed April to perform her weather anchor duties from home as we explored her concerns. While we respect and support our employees’ freedom to have their own opinions, they are not entitled to use our station news broadcasts as a platform for sharing personal views. Ms. Moss is no longer with our station."

Should Moss choose to pursue "discrimination" claims against her former employer, she has little to no chance of succeeding. It's not discrimination for an employer to follow government guidelines. The CDC continues to recommend masks for unvaccinated people in most settings (including the workplace), and the EEOC continues to permit Covid testing as a condition of employment. This employer isn't breaking the law; it's following the law. That's not discrimination; it's just common sense.