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Former Anchor Suing KRQE: Ruiz Claims Career, Love Life Sabotaged(Albuquerque Journal (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 21--Former anchorwoman Erika Ruiz is suing her bosses at KRQE, Channel 13, accusing station personnel of sexual harassment, sabotaging her career and love life, and deploying investigative newshound Larry Barker into her private dealings. Ruiz, who stunned viewers by abruptly leaving the thentop-rated 10 p.m. newscast in Januar y, filed a complaint in arbitration Friday for breach of contract and fraud against K RQE i n a legal action that sounds more catfight than contract dispute. S h e i s accusing station executives of "malicious, oppressive and fraudulent conduct" and for misleading her into believing KRQE would renew her contract then didn't -- but not until after her chances to apply for open anchor positions at the two other local stations were greatly diminished. The complaint also accuses them of spying on her personal life and "covertly and without authority" obtaining information on Ruiz's then-fiance Shawn Bryan and attempting to use it to break up the romance. "They became so obsessed with her personal life that not only were they going to terminate her, they were going to prohibit her from working anywhere else," Ruiz's attorney, Sam Bregman said. "In every sense of the word, KRQE worked viciously and illegally." Attorney James Dines, who represents KRQE, said the company would not comment on the pending legal action. The complaint especially targets a former news director, accusing her of using Bryan's license plate numbers to access records from the state Motor Vehicle Division then "berating" Ruiz with the obtained information, which included details about Bryan's earlier divorce. The news director also lied to Ruiz, saying the background check was prompted as a result of an anonymous call -- a claim later refuted by KRQE General Manager Bill Anderson, the complaint alleges. Similar allegations concerning the accessing of Bryan's MVD records form the basis of a lawsuit he filed in May against KRQE for emotional distress he says he suffered when the station probed his MVD records, a violation of the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act, the lawsuit claims. Bregman, who is also representing Bryan, said that lawsuit is still in the preliminary investigation stage. A Journal check of court records found five incidents of domestic violence-related charges against Bryan from 1998 to 2003. Bryan, a former Marine sergeant and Iraq war veteran, was never convicted of any of the charges, and all were dismissed. Ruiz, a divorced mother of five, and Bryan were married in early 2007. Ruiz's complaint also accuses KRQE of employing Barker to investigate whether Ruiz had improperly used her position and name to access a private plane for her and her husband to attend a war memorial function in Columbus, Ohio. The complaint also alleges that an assignment manager repeatedly asked Ruiz to show him her breasts but was never reprimanded. "That goes to the kind of conduct my client was forced to work in," Bregman said. Late last year, anchor position openings existed at the two other local TV stations after longtime KOB, Channel 4, anchorwoman Carla Aragon and KOAT, Channel 7, anchorwoman Cynthia Izaguirre left their respective stations. "Erika took Channel 13 to No. 1 at 10 p.m., and the last thing they (KRQE) wanted her to do was to work for anyone else and take them to No. 1," Bregman said. "She had a wonderful opportunity, but that is now lost, and at the end of the day she lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and she has a right to be compensated for that." Bregman said he was not aware of any offers from the other stations then. He also acknowledged that Ruiz's legal action could now make other stations leery of employing her in the future. "But that was caused by KRQE and no one else," he said. "Erika is a very talented anchor and obviously if another station is willing to employ her, she's more than willing to talk to them." Ruiz seeks compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial. The complaint names KRQE and LIN Television Corp., the Delaware-based owners of the Albuquerque CBS affiliate. To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |