Federal judge dismisses Melissa McGuren lawsuit against WTMX
Decision is a blow for sexual harassment case
It looks like it’s back to square one for Melissa McGurren after her $10 million defamation suit against WTMX and parent Hubbard Broadcasting was dismissed by a federal judge. McGurren sued Hubbard after executives slandered her in e-mail messages regarding her harassment claims against now-departed morning host Eric Ferguson.
In a ruling handed down Tuesday by Judge Ronald Guzman but wasn’t made public until Friday evening, the comments in question made by WTMX executive Jeff England did not fall into the categories defined by Illinois law to be “defamatory”. Attorneys for McGurren now say they are looking into other options, including arbitration – meaning this is likely going to settled without going to court.
In his decision, Guzman wrote: “Taken in context, a reasonable reader would not understand the internal email by England to have been made for the purpose of causing harm to (McGurren’s) reputation or lowering her standing in the community, but rather to acknowledge the existence of the EEOC claim, convey to the radio station’s employees that the matter is being investigated, and indicate that the radio station does not agree with (McGurren’s) interpretation.”
McGurren departed WTMX two years ago and now is morning personality at country station WUSN-FM, owned by Audacy.
Due to the decision, Hubbard officials are asking another federal judge to throw out another defamation suit filed by Cynthia DeNicolo, a former producer on Ferguson’s morning show. Like McGurren, DeNicolo was also sexually harassed by Ferguson. DeNicolo was laid off from the station two years ago due to decimated revenues stemming from the pandemic. She has a separate lawsuit against Ferguson pending.
Other women who worked at WTMX also claimed sexual harassment by Ferguson, who was taken off the air last October and subsequently left the station.
At one time, Ferguson and his one-time partner Kathy Hart, dominated Chicago morning radio in the key adult 25-54 and women 25-54 demos. After continuing tension between the two resulted in Hart departing in 2017, the show continued with a “morning zoo”- type ensemble cast. Ferguson brought in millions of revenue per year to Minneapolis-based Hubbard and kept the hot adult contemporary station in the top ten overall.
Ferguson was succeeded by former afternoon host Chris Petlak in January. In the most recent PPM survey, Petlak tied for fifth in morning drive while WTMX ranked eighth overall.
The dismissal of McGurren’s lawsuit doesn’t mean the end of legal trouble for WTMX, Hubbard, or Ferguson. This is just the beginning, but consider this a bit of a letdown in the process to hold those in power accountable – a difficult thing to do in a state known for corruption.