KYW Newsradio anchor files gender and age discrimination lawsuit against the station
Carol MacKenzie, 58, began working at the Audacy-owned station in 2003, and was paid $20,000 to $30,000 less than men employed in similar roles, the lawsuit alleges.
A longtime KYW Newsradio anchor has filed a gender and age discrimination lawsuit against the station alleging that for two decades, it paid her less than her younger or male coworkers.
Carol MacKenzie, 58, began working at the Audacy-owned station in 2003, and was paid $20,000 to $30,000 less per year than men employed in similar roles there for several years, the lawsuit filed in Philadelphia’s federal court Tuesday claims. By 2010, she asked her then-supervisor for a raise, and he allegedly “implied that KYW could not have a woman making more than a man,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit describes several examples of alleged pay disparities over MacKenzie’s career, including two male reporters, one about 15 years her junior, who were paid $10,000 more than she was in 2011; a fellow, male, morning anchor who made $30,000 more than she did in 2014; and two other anchors — a woman 15 years younger than MacKenzie and a man — who each had an annual salary $20,000 higher than MacKenzie’s.
An Audacy spokesperson declined to comment on the suit.
In 2021 and 2022, SAG-AFTRA, the union to which MacKenzie belongs, conducted an investigation of KYW’s pay practices, the lawsuit says. That investigation “confirmed the systemic gender-based pay violations that KYW had in engaged in” over the course of MacKenzie’s career at the station, the complaint says.
As that investigation was ongoing, the lawsuit alleges, KYW offered MacKenzie a renewal on her contract that included yearly pay offers of $137,000 for 2022, $140,000 for 2023, and $143,000 for 2024. She declined the offer “because she believed these yearly salary offers were far less than her male counterparts,” and the the station later increased their offer by $10,000 to $13,000 per year, which she accepted, the lawsuit says.
The station, the complaint alleges, “has known or should have known for at least 10 years that its pay decisions regarding MacKenzie are discriminatory based on her gender or age or both.” As a result, it claims, the station violated the Equal Pay Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
MacKenzie is seeking an unspecified amount in back pay, damages, interest, and attorney’s fees. The lawsuit has also asked the court to require an external monitor to make quarterly reports on KYW’s pay rates for anchors and reporters for three years.
“Carol MacKenzie has been an anchor for KYW Newsradio for 20 years. She is the voice many of us wake up to, commute to work with, and preview our day with,” said MacKenzie’s attorney, Scott M. Pollins. “Today, she’s given her voice to women in media who have been systemically paid less than their male counterparts. We are proud to represent Carol in taking this courageous stand against discrimination. We are committed to securing justice and equity for Carol.”