Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 11-22-19

Local
Exclusive:
Former News Anchor Sues WTSP For Age Discrimination And Retaliation
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
Everybody knows the fa- miliar and endearing face of former local news star, Regi- nald Roundtree.
As he sat down for an ex- clusive interview with the Sentinel from his attorney’s office, he is looking good and feeling fine. The beloved an- chor and popular personality is ready to get his story out.
Earlier this year, Roundtree was fired by tel- evision station WTSP where he spent nearly 30 years of his career as a news reporter and anchor. At the time, his wife was suffering from Stage 4 cervical cancer. In addition to losing his income, Mr. Roundtree also lost his health insurance. It was dev- astating.
In late October, Roundtree filed an age dis-
crimination and retaliation lawsuit against the station.
Born in Daytona, Florida while his mother Gussie was attending Bethune- Cookman College, they moved to Harlem to join his father who had found work as a butcher in Brooklyn after graduation. His mother was a gifted woman, she re- ceived her master’s degree at Hunters College while singing second soprano with the Metropolitan Opera. Al- though they came from hum- ble beginnings and his father only had a 5th grade educa- tion, they instilled a strong work ethic and deep empathy for those less fortunate.
Later relocating to Miami, Roundtree at- tended local public schools. He graduated from the Uni- versity of South Florida (USF) and returned home to the Miami area. At the en-
REGINALD ROUNDTREE
couragement of friends and family, he joined the Miami police force. In 1983, he re- ceived city-wide recognition for his bravery after rescuing 11 people from a burning house. After six years of po- lice work and becoming a po- lice spokesperson, he was encouraged to explore a ca- reer in television.
Roundtree’s TV career started at a local station in West Palm Beach. The news director told him that al- though he had a three-year contract, he would be lucky to hold on to him. Even then without any previous experi- ence, Roundtree’s pres- ence in front of the camera was magnetic.
Fifteen months and one agent later, Roundtree had offers from across the nation, including Tampa.
He was inclined to come to Tampa since he had grad- uated from USF and knew the area well. WTVT Chan- nel 13 had already made him an offer, but the general manager from WTSP was de- termined to tap into the raw talent he saw.
The general manager’s name was Mel Martin and he saw compassion and clear thinking in the young re- porter and thought he would make an incredible addition to the WTSP reporting staff. “Martin was a tough man to work for,” but Roundtree credits him with the training it took to move ahead with the highest degree of profes- sionalism. This training helped him make the highly unusual move from street re- porter to anchor.
Roundtree gained expe- rience working for WTSP as a general assignment re- porter for close to six years before being promoted to weekend anchor. After being promoted, the WTSP general manager noticed that the six o’clock news was #3 in the Tampa market from Monday to Friday, but on the week- ends the broadcast was #1. Because of this, Roundtree was promoted to the main anchor desk. Within six months, WTSP’s weekday broadcasts went to #1. The ratings remained consis- tently high throughout Roundtree’s tenure.
About five or so years ago, Roundtree noticed a change to the contracts he was being offered. He had previously been offered three to six year contracts that were then reduced to one- year. Roundtree was per- plexed, then concerned. He felt something was going on with the management.
His ratings were still high, and he was more popu- lar than ever in the commu- nity, however, he says younger, less-experienced anchors were being offered longer contracts.
According to Round- tree, riding the wave of change at WTSP, its new general manager came on board from Bay News 9 in 2013 with an agenda. It was allegedly discovered that the GM had a “hit list” targeting employees over the age of 40. And, according to Roundtree, the vast major- ity of those employees were gone from the station by the time the GM resigned in 2016 and the“hit list” was found on the man’s desk. He says that on a staffing plan, His (Roundtree’s) name had the phrase “2018 bye- bye.” And that the News Di- rector at the time, echoed the GM’s views by stating that he didn’t want any “old guys with ties on my news set."
Roundtree states, the campaign against him be- came obvious. For the first two years of the GM’s tenure, he did not use him (Roundtree), his main an- chor, in any promotions for
the station. When the num- bers started sinking, Roundtree says he was ap- proached with a plan to do special reporting on un- solved murders in the Tampa Bay area. Roundtree says he was determined to remain professional and do the very best job, although he felt the handwriting was on the wall.
In November 2018, Roundtree’s new proposed contract was for a single year; his salary was slashed by 50%; and, he would be de- moted to investigative re- porter after six months.
During this very tough time, Roundtree had been confiding in his long-time friend, Attorney Wil Florin about his situation at the station. Based on the contract he was offered, Roundtree filed a com- plaint of age discrimination with the EEOC and the Florida Commission on Human Rights.
According to Round- tree, on January 28, 2019, the complaint was hand de- livered to the current general manager, Mike Rodriguez. By the evening, Roundtree was suspended by the station and put on paid leave.
On February 8, 2019, Roundtree was fired by WTSP.
The cause given by the station was an ethics claim concerning a jailhouse inter- view Mr. Roundtree had done with now convicted killer, Michael Drejka. Roundtree says the station knew about the interview, and had agreed to it, and even sent news director, Kelly Frank to accompany him. Roundtree says that Ms. Frank felt that there was no question of ethics, in fact, she loved the interview and assisted him in writing the story.
The EEOC made a find- ing of "no cause" and issued a “right to sue” letter for the age discrimination as well as the charge of retaliation. With no opportunity for dep- ositions or testimony, the EEOC relies on administra- tive records to decide and “no cause” is a frequent and expected outcome.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019