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| Jared Cerullo |
One-time KAKE-TV Wichita reporter and part-time anchor Jared
Cerullo has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, citing breach of
contract and defamation, according to bizjournals.com.
The lawsuit (PDF), filed on Aug. 23, names Gray Television
Group Inc., the parent company of KAKE, and Michael Sipes, KAKE’s news
director. Cerullo is seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
The suit alleges that Cerullo was wrongly terminated for
information he shared through Twitter and during an on-air newscast about how a
defendant in a murder case pleaded during a June preliminary hearing.
Cerullo incorrectly reported that that person entered a plea
of guilty, when, in fact, the defendant pleaded not guilty and waived his right
to a preliminary hearing, meaning the case was bound over for a jury trial. Notified of the error, Cerullo corrected his mistake on
Twitter and later issued an on-air correction and apology.
Cerullo, according to court documents filed with Sedgwick
County District Court, was suspended on June 25 only to have his employment
contract terminated a day later for what was characterized as “gross
negligence.”
Cerullo’s termination sparked a firestorm among some KAKE
viewers, some of whom launched a Facebook campaign demanding he be reinstated.
Cerullo admits the mistake but the “punishment didn’t fit
the crime.”
Cerullo started with KAKE in 2007 as an assignment editor.
He joined the TV station after working in radio at KFDI.
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