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Fox 2 anchor Taryn Asher
Fox 2 anchor Taryn Asher, who was fired from the station last November, filed a complaint in recent weeks with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the station, alleging unlawful sex discrimination.
“Similarly, under Title VII, Fox has a duty not to retaliate against Ms. Asher because of her reports of unlawful sex-based discrimination," said the EEOC complaint her attorney shared with Deadline Detroit on Wednesday.
"Fox subjected Ms. Asher to less favorable treatment than similarly situated male employees. This treatment included, but was not limited to, providing Ms. Asher’s male counterpart with a greater number of opportunities, more desirable assignments, and a more favorable and accommodating schedule.”
“As a result, on multiple occasions, Ms. Asher complained to Fox, both verbally and in writing, outlining the disparate treatment and alleging unlawful sex-based discrimination. In response, Fox retaliated against Ms. Asher by further reducing her responsibilities in comparison to her male colleague, by erroneously accusing her of unprofessional conduct, and by subjecting Ms. Asher to a baseless ‘investigation.’"
Her attorney, Matthew Turner, told Deadline Detroit on Monday that Asher was fired in November after she complained that new management was not treating her as an equal to her male counterpart.
He said that despite efforts to get the station to reverse its decision, it refused, which led to her desk being cleaned out the other day.
He told Deadline Detroit on Monday that it became clear that Fox 2 was not going to let Asher return, “so we finally said, ‘OK, give her all her stuff back, and we’re going to proceed to the next step, which is ultimately going to be litigation.’”
The station has repeatedly declined to comment.
Her absence on air for several months was a mystery and Fox 2 declined to comment.
The federal complaint with the EEOC goes on to say:
“Fox’s conduct constitutes a violation and a continuing violation of Title VII based on the company’s blatant sex-based discrimination against Ms. Asher and its retaliation against her for complaints of unlawful sex discrimination."
Asher, who grew up in Fenton, had been a Fox 2 reporter and anchor before being officially named co-anchor in 2022 alongside Roop Raj. The two had big shoes to fill, replacing popular veteran anchors Huel Perkins and Monica Gayle, who retired earlier that year.
A 1997 graduate of Michigan State University, Asher came to Fox 2 in 2007 from WJRT-TV in Flint, where she worked for seven years. Before that, she worked for WLNS in Lansing.
