Barbi Bassett might have lost in her lawsuit against WLBT but the former tv star is no quitter as she filed a notice of appeal in U.S. District Court on May 30.
WLBT fired the popular weatherwoman in 2022 after she said "grandmammy" and "fo shizzle my nizzle" on the air in six months. Ms. Bassett sued her former employer for racial discrimination and illegal enforcement of a non-compete clause in December 2023 in U.S. District Court. However, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III dismissed her case on May 19, 2025 as he held no racial discrimination took place and the issue of the non-compete clause was moot. Earlier post with coverage of decision and history of Ms. Bassett's firing.
Undeterred, Ms. Bassett notified the Court of her intent to appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals:
Stay tuned.
26 comments:
One thing about discrimination/EEO actions is that it's not enough to prove a bad/wrong decision was made, but the decision has to be made due to the aggrieved being in protected class. In other words, she'd better have a copy of an email where whoever fired her stated something to the effect that he/she was firing Barbie due to her being an old white woman. I doubt such evidence exists, or it would have been presented in the first filing. If Maggie Wade or another similarly aged woman had made such comments on a newscast it would have been just as cringy and likely resulted in disciplinary action. Barbie had one chance, she should have learned her lesson. I'm assuming her attorney is hoping for a settlement.
Barbie is a victim or racism pure and simple. Too bad long time co-workers of hers don't stand up for her.
Go girl! Maybe the recent SCOTUS decision regarding "reverse discrimination" will help.
A radio personality in Jackson named Freddie Mertz in the 1980’s dropped an N-bomb live on air one morning. That ended his career here, as it should have. Anyone offended by what Barbi said is looking and hoping to be offended.
"Termination" from your employment is not a proportional response to making a mistake....even on air......like this was, and was not warranted. It was excessive. Perhaps a documented corrective action or performance improvement plan, but termination? No.
You go gurl
Show me the money!
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision this past week stating that people in a majority class don’t have a higher burden than minorities in proving their Title VII discrimination cases. I have read the decision in Barbie’s case, but maybe that’s part of the reason for the appeal. Besides, knowing how off the rails the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is these days, it wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t reverse it, and send it back for a trial. Her lawyer has won more than one case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he routinely appears in the Fifth Circuit, so don’t count her out just yet. Personally, I think she should have been fired for being stupid enough to say things on the air that she didn’t know the meaning of.
If this was a man vs. a woman (Barbie) would you feel the same way? I doubt it.
Barbie is a "victim" of being a backwoods stupid white woman trying to be cool. She should have stuck to what she knew, spitting out kids, plain & simple!!!!!
More attorneys fees for Gray Media. Love it!,
@9:11, are you being racist? Sounds like it to me. Anyway you look at it we all know she was fired and a younger black woman filled her spot who could not on many occasions pronounce many of the towns and city names in Mississippi. My opinion is they made the wrong choice on both occasions. WLBT is not just watched locally in jackson but it is televised over a large viewing area and many people I know stopped watching WLBT just because of what they did to Barbie. Keep on being a racist. It won’t get you anywhere.
@9:26 wow I never knew that! I thought Klay Edwards was the first person around here to do that live on-air.
Good thing we’re past that. No urban radio station would male that cut.
Does anyone even listen to Clay Edwards and Jamison Haygood? Talk about a waste of good electricity. I'd like to see the Arbitron/Nielsen ratings for those two. They're just plain awful.
@8:44 am, really? I never said anything about firing her because she was female. I simply said she should have been fired for being stupid (a non-discriminatory reason). I would feel the same way if it was a man. If a person is so stupid as to utter things on the air without knowing what they mean, they have no business being on the air.
I hope she wins. In this present age, we see awful court decisions protecting murderers, gang members, and we see career criminals continually released to prey upon more victims. And somehow a woman can have her career destroyed by woke TV station managers who play a double standard like a violin.
Exactly. Go girl! Stick it to the man!
Move on and don’t give them another thought Barbie!
I hope she finds peace in all this.
Babbling Barbi was done 40 years ago......that "what a innocent country girl I am" petered out 40 yrs ago. Iust a wore out bimbo trying to hold on to a past youth.
I came here to say the same about the decision just handed down. And yes, if this was a man vs. a woman I would feel the same. Everyone knows that lady didn't mean anything racial by it. It's a pathetic double standard fueling the fatigue. Why is it only hurtful when it's said by a white person? Are they really that fragile?
Yet their names taste so good in your mouth I see...
That's bullshit. You've obviously never worked in an employment law or Senior HR capacity.
9:11, there ARE NO "backwoods", where Barbi is from. The land is part of a region whose Dollars-per-acre crop output is up there with the Netherlands and Southern California. There are some woods between the Mississippi River and the levee. But in those woods, one is more likely to encounter millionaire professionals from Memphis (out hunting, on land owned by expensive/exclusive hunting clubs), than the poor whites you're desperate to imagine.
My offer of that sandwich-making gig still stands.
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