Julie O'Neill accuses WCPO of firing her for getting 'older,' plans to sue station
Update: Jeff Brogan, vice president and general manager of WCPO 9, emailed a comment to The Enquirer Thursday: "We appreciate Julie’s years of service at WCPO. However, we do not agree with many statements that have been made. As usual, we don’t talk about personnel matters publicly."
Original story published June 14:
Julie O'Neill discusses her decades-long broadcast career and abrupt departure from WCPO 9 (WCPO-TV) in her new memoir, "Bold: The Secret to My Big Wins To Help You Crash Through Your Comfort Zone."
O'Neill, who anchored WCPO's morning show and worked at the station for 27 years, claims she was pushed out in 2022 because of her age. In an email to The Enquirer, she said she opted out of WCPO's $50,000 severance package to avoid having to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
The longtime anchor was taken off the station's morning show, "Good Morning Tri-State," in September and was told her contract would not be renewed in December.
"It seemed apparent to all that the great offense which led to my termination was that I dared to get older," she wrote in her book.
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O'Neill said she began to feel uneasy about her position within the company at the start of 2022, the final year of her contract.
"The bosses did not see me as the future," she wrote in the book.
It began with her being passed up for a Super Bowl 56 reporting opportunity in favor of her co-anchor, who was "new to the city," O'Neill wrote, despite her longtime reporting on the Cincinnati Bengals and connection to Joe Burrow as a Baton Rouge native. After that, O'Neill said she was "largely ignored" by general manager Jeff Brogan, and her on-air performance was criticized by WCPO news director Barry Fulmer.
"There was no mention of my good moments on the air," she wrote. "I got scowls and glares from him (Fulmer). The contempt for me was palpable."
O'Neill also wrote that her union representative, who accompanied her to a meeting with Fulmer and human resources, told her afterward: "Clearly, they're gunning for you."
On Sept. 13, O'Neill was called into a meeting with Brogan, who told her she was being taken off the morning show and her contract would not be renewed at the end of the year. O'Neill said in her book Brogan read from a letter that accused her of "failure to follow direction and unacceptable professional conduct."
O'Neill said Brogan pointed to an incident in which she had mentioned a colleague's recent recovery from COVID-19 on-air. O'Neill wrote that she only mentioned the employee's bout with the virus because they had posted about their symptoms and recovery on social media.
According to O'Neill, Brogan read in his letter that her on-air comment was "disrespectful and unprofessional" and "created reputational risk for the team, for the show, and for the station."
But O'Neill believes the real root of her termination was ageism.
"Nine days after the end of my final contract, I would turn 55, officially casting me out of the all important TV news age 18-54 audience demographic," she wrote.
O'Neill said in an email she intends to sue the station and has hired an attorney. She declined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's offer to mediate.
"In case anyone hadn't noticed, this is not about the money for me so much as the principle," she emailed.
The Enquirer reached out to Brogan and Fulmer but did not receive a response.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati anchor says she was fired over age, plans to sue station
