Ex-News Director, Allegedly Fired for 'Anti-Gay' Memo, Sues Nexstar for Defamation

Nexstar Media published false statements about former WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, Michigan, news director Stanton Tang involving Gay Pride coverage in the city in June 2023, alleged Tang’s defamation complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00616). A Kent County, Michigan, resident, Tang filed July 12 in U.S. District Court for Western Michigan in Grand Rapids.

Tang seeks redress for damages he suffered and continues to suffer as a result of the publication of Nexstar’s “false and defamatory statements,” directly or by implication, which subjected the ex-WOOD TV news editor to “undeserved scorn and humiliation,” alleged the complaint.

On June 13, 2023, Tang asked Amy Fox, WOOD-TV's assistant news director, to prepare and distribute an internal memo to Nexstar news staff reporters “reminding them to consider the newsworthiness of events being covered during Pride Month in the West Michigan area,” said the complaint. WOOD-TV had covered 14 Pride-related events May 30-June 12, the memo said. The internal email memo wasn't intended for publication to third parties “and its message was not discriminatory,” said the complaint, saying the memo was “entirely consistent with Nexstar’s stated policy(ies) of presenting all points of view, and the unbiased coverage of all newsworthy topics with balance.”

The memo stated that the station had already done “a number of 'valuable stories’ on Pride month-related events but that ‘we have also started to hear pushback from viewers who are not happy to see those Pride-related stories.’” The memo added that “not every Pride Month event 'needed to be covered,’ and it encouraged employees to be 'thoughtful’ about which stories they chose to pursue," it said. The memo told employees, “We need to do some work to discern the newsworthiness of the event,” and if the station is covering Pride events, “we need to consider how to make the story balanced and get both sides of the issue.”

Following the email distribution of the memo to the WOOD-TV news staff June 13, several station employees “expressed their irritation and their objections to its contents, characterizing it as ‘anti-gay’ and other, similar labels,” said the complaint. At a staff meeting later in the day, Tang “reminded [news staff] that in reporting the news, it was important to remain objective and neutral,” said the complaint. The plaintiff told the staff “it was in the station’s best interests not to be seen as leaning one way or the other when it came to coverage of controversial issues or cultural debates,” it said.

Beginning on June 14, one or more Nexstar employees leaked the memo to outside media resulting in “a firestorm of negative publicity," including at least 46 articles or internet posts about the memo, said the complaint. Many of the articles defamed Tang’s professional reputation as a news director, “directly or by implication,” the complaint said. Reports said Tang had directed the assistant news director to prepare the memo ordering staff reporters “not to cover Pride-related events,” it said. Articles and blog posts referenced an “anti-gay” memo, which Tang asserted was “misrepresented," under headlines such as “Michigan TV newsroom revolts over anti-gay memo,” said the complaint.

“Almost immediately,” articles and posts also reported Nexstar publicly commenting that the internal memo “[was] not consistent with Nexstar’s values, the way we cover the news, or the respect we have for our viewers,” the complaint said. Rather than corroborating Tang’s contention that the memo was consistent with Nexstar standards, disavowing false statements by managers about Tang, or responding with a “no comment” after the memo was made public, Nexstar “engaged in a concerted effort to protect itself by falsely implying” that Tang was “anti-gay, thereby destroying Plaintiff’s professional reputation among the news media and the public in general,” the complaint alleged.

As media coverage of the memo grew, “it became clear that Nexstar intended to blame Plaintiff for what was characterized as an anti-gay memo,” said the complaint. The defendant sided with “its disgruntled employees, ratifying, adopting and/or affirming the false statements accusing him directly or by implication of engaging in misconduct and/or acting unprofessionally,” said the complaint. Tang was notified on June 29 that his employment was being terminated, as was Fox's, it said.

The “defamatory” comments about Tang have been published and republished on public websites where they “are recorded forever, and may be located and viewed at any time by anyone in the future based on random or targeted search,” alleged the complaint. Prior to Nexstar’s “attacks on his professional reputation and character,” the plaintiff was “highly respected in the local news markets,” the complaint said.

The actions of Nexstar's managers commenting on the leaked memo in ways that “directly implicated” Tang “created a mob mentality” that carried over to the investigation of the memo and the plaintiff’s firing, the complaint alleged. The negative impact of the false and defamatory statements on Tang’s professional reputation and personal life “cannot be overstated,” it said.

Tang asserts claims of defamation and defamation per se, false light, and violation of the Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act. He seeks an order that Nexstar remove false information from his personnel file; an award of damages in excess of $75,000 for injuries; awards of over $75,000 for compensatory, punitive, and/or exemplary damages; prejudgment interest; and attorneys’ costs and fees.