Gay Miami Newsman Fired After Filing Complaint

[EXPAT]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2009/08/0806_charles_perez.jpg

 

An openly gay Miami news anchor has officially been fired from his job, just one week after the guy filed a sexual discrimination complaint against his bosses -- and the anchor claims the timing is no coincidence.

 

The man in the center of the controversy is Charles Perez -- who you may remember from "Inside Edition" or his nationally syndicated talk show, "The Charles Perez Show."

 

The drama all began in June, when Perez was "demoted" from the local ABC nightly evening newscast to the weekend edition -- and Perez claims it was because the station felt he was "becoming too gay" for the public to handle.

 

Perez decided to file a complaint with the Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board, in which he details a performance review, where one of his bosses warned him that he smiled on air too much and that he and his female co-anchor were "like girlfriends while on the set."

 

Perez believes he was fired in retaliation for filing the complaint with the EOB. The station claims Perez's recent "actions" left them "no real choice" but to fire him.

 

Here's the catch -- the boss who demoted him is himself gay and issued a statement saying, "As a gay man myself, I can safely say the station does not discriminate against gay people." The station also denies the allegation.

 

But Perez isn't buying it, and tells TMZ he plans on filing a "7 or 8 figure lawsuit" against both the station and it's parent company, the Washington Post.

 

But there's more -- Perez believes this whole thing started because of a very private email that was hacked out of his computer by an ex-boyfriend and sent to his colleagues at his news station back in March.

 

Perez claims the email was a private exchange with his therapist, in which "sexual identity" was discussed. Perez claims when his co-workers read the email, they wrongly believed that he wanted to become a woman -- and that's when people at the station began treating him differently.

[Guest EuropTravl]

I remember his talk show. As I recall he used to be a big shot behind the scenes of The Rikki Lake Show and thought to himself "Hey, I can be that vapid, too". Michael Musto outed him then as the slutty boyfriend of a MTV Real World cast member on that show about 5 or 6 years prior to his own show. I can imagine he must have been fun to watch covering local news and playing "serious".

[Guest greatness]

hmm

 

In this case his ex did something awful. Why would someone do that to a person he once loved? I guess he was hurt but still people can be immature. Hacking is pretty easy now. However a good hacking is an art since it has to be original, creative and sophisticated. Some people simply study how a hacker attacks a certain site and from there develop counter measures. It is always interesting when people think they can be anonymous online.

 

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2009/08/0806_charles_perez.jpg

 

An openly gay Miami news anchor has officially been fired from his job, just one week after the guy filed a sexual discrimination complaint against his bosses -- and the anchor claims the timing is no coincidence.

 

The man in the center of the controversy is Charles Perez -- who you may remember from "Inside Edition" or his nationally syndicated talk show, "The Charles Perez Show."

 

The drama all began in June, when Perez was "demoted" from the local ABC nightly evening newscast to the weekend edition -- and Perez claims it was because the station felt he was "becoming too gay" for the public to handle.

 

Perez decided to file a complaint with the Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board, in which he details a performance review, where one of his bosses warned him that he smiled on air too much and that he and his female co-anchor were "like girlfriends while on the set."

 

Perez believes he was fired in retaliation for filing the complaint with the EOB. The station claims Perez's recent "actions" left them "no real choice" but to fire him.

 

Here's the catch -- the boss who demoted him is himself gay and issued a statement saying, "As a gay man myself, I can safely say the station does not discriminate against gay people." The station also denies the allegation.

 

But Perez isn't buying it, and tells TMZ he plans on filing a "7 or 8 figure lawsuit" against both the station and it's parent company, the Washington Post.

 

But there's more -- Perez believes this whole thing started because of a very private email that was hacked out of his computer by an ex-boyfriend and sent to his colleagues at his news station back in March.

 

Perez claims the email was a private exchange with his therapist, in which "sexual identity" was discussed. Perez claims when his co-workers read the email, they wrongly believed that he wanted to become a woman -- and that's when people at the station began treating him differently.

[BewareofNick]

Perez appeared on the first season of Real World and was dating Norman Korpi.

 

I know, I was hoping it was Eric Nies too..lol

[Guest ryan2552]

As gay men and women we have made so many advances yet still face such discrimination, what a shame

[+ purplekow]

Eric Nies is a Jersey boy and while straight, he gives me the impression that should there be enough money, well everything is negotiable.

[Guest Tristan]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2009/08/0806_charles_perez.jpg

 

An openly gay Miami news anchor has officially been fired from his job, just one week after the guy filed a sexual discrimination complaint against his bosses -- and the anchor claims the timing is no coincidence.

 

The man in the center of the controversy is Charles Perez -- who you may remember from "Inside Edition" or his nationally syndicated talk show, "The Charles Perez Show."

 

The drama all began in June, when Perez was "demoted" from the local ABC nightly evening newscast to the weekend edition -- and Perez claims it was because the station felt he was "becoming too gay" for the public to handle.

 

Perez decided to file a complaint with the Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board, in which he details a performance review, where one of his bosses warned him that he smiled on air too much and that he and his female co-anchor were "like girlfriends while on the set."

 

According to the South Florida Blade, Perez was told that his banter with Laurie Jennings (his co-anchor) was not strong enough, along with the "girlfriends" comment. Local affiliates have been pushing this co-anchor banter more and more as part of the entertainment value of the newscast. But I never heard of a case of deficient bantering being a factor in demotion. It's all smoke.

 

Laurie Jennings looks like a smile is glued to her face, along with the makeup, before each broadcast. Charles Perez appears very natural and has a pleasant low key delivery. It sounds like the station can make up its mind what he was doing wrong. Here's another short article from the South Florida Blade:

 

http://www.floridablade.com/2009/8-6/news/localnews/6134.cfm

[seaboy4hire]

Perez appeared on the first season of Real World and was dating Norman Korpi.

 

I know, I was hoping it was Eric Nies too..lol

 

Awwwe Norman was my first tv star crush I found him to be much hotter then Eric. But back on topic. Was the talk show that Charles had a regional thing? I don't remember it being on out on this side of the country.

 

Hugs,

Greg