Andrea Morehead Lawsuit: WTHR Claims, Court Ruling, and Dismissal

The Andrea Morehead lawsuit was a federal discrimination case that the longtime WTHR-TV anchor filed against the Indianapolis NBC affiliate and its parent company, Tegna Inc., on January 13, 2021, two days after the station fired her. Morehead alleged that WTHR harassed her, sidelined her work, and retaliated against her after she was treated for breast cancer and reported discrimination. She voluntarily dismissed the case on May 24, 2022, saying the legal system would never give her a “fair fight.”¹

What Morehead Alleged

Morehead had anchored WTHR’s 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts since 1999. In April 2018 she publicly disclosed a Stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis, went through roughly 20 weeks of chemotherapy and surgery, and continued immunotherapy from February 2019 through February 2020.²

Her original complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana as case number 1:21-cv-00086, alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.³ After she shared medical details with management, she said, WTHR launched what she described as a “relentless campaign of harassment.” Managers allegedly pulled her stories from the air, credited her ideas to other employees, and withheld production help that comparable colleagues received.⁴

One allegation drew particular attention. According to the complaint, in February 2020 two coworkers and two managers placed a $20 bet on whether Morehead would return to work during her immunotherapy, and management took no action to stop it.² The suit also alleged that managers disclosed confidential details of her cancer treatment to other anchors.⁴

Morehead had filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May 2020 and received a right-to-sue notice that October. WTHR fired her on January 11, 2021. She alleged the termination was retaliation for the EEOC complaint.⁵

How the Case Expanded

On November 11, 2021, Morehead filed a Second Amended Complaint that added considerably more to the case. Along with the original ADA and Title VII disability claims, she brought race discrimination claims under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, gender discrimination claims under Title VII and the Equal Pay Act, and a state-law breach of contract claim.³

The new allegations included a claim that Morehead had been paid less than similarly situated white and male colleagues throughout her time at the station, despite comparable responsibilities, experience, and what the complaint called exemplary annual performance reviews.⁶

The Court’s Ruling on the Motion to Dismiss

Attorneys for WTHR and Tegna argued that the expanded claims were untimely because they came more than 90 days after the initial EEOC right-to-sue notice. Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson rejected that argument on March 29, 2022. She found the new claims “related back” to the original complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c), that the original filing and EEOC charge had given the defendants adequate notice of the scope of potential claims, and that the defendants had not shown surprise or unfair prejudice. The defendants had also conceded the new claims were “like or reasonably related” to the original ones.³

The ruling let the race discrimination, gender discrimination and pay disparity, and hostile work environment claims proceed. Judge Magnus-Stinson wrote that Morehead had presented a claim “reasonable enough to raise the expectation that pay discrimination occurred.”⁶

WTHR and Tegna’s Response

WTHR president and general manager Michael Brouder denied the allegations, stating that “Tegna and WTHR deny the allegations contained in [Morehead’s] complaint” and describing the company as “an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.”¹

Why Morehead Dropped the Suit

Less than two months after surviving the motion to dismiss, Morehead voluntarily dismissed the case. The court entered the dismissal on May 24, 2022, and its terms bar her from refiling in federal court.¹

In a public statement, she said she faced two outcomes she found unacceptable: having the case dismissed by the court, or settling and signing a non-disclosure agreement that would require her to “forever remain silent.” She called the legal process “exhaustive” and said depositions involved “blatant lies, factual omissions,” and “a dizzying game of semantics.” She concluded: “they don’t deserve any more of my energy.”¹

Morehead also spoke about what she saw as the difficulty of proving workplace racism in court, saying that “current federal laws do not adequately protect people from racism” and that without overt evidence such as a racial slur or a physical threat, “it can be legally challenging to prove intentional discrimination.”⁷ Brouder responded that the company was “pleased” with the dismissal and continued to deny all allegations.¹

Where Morehead Is Now

In May 2023, Morehead joined Carmel-based ReJoyce Financial as the community impact anchor for “The Retirement Halftime Show,” a magazine-style program that airs on radio and television stations across Central Indiana and streams nationally.⁸

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