Appeals Court: Atlanta Weatherman Fired for Harassment, Not Because He Is White

One of the longest-serving TV meteorologists in Atlanta was terminated from his high-profile job in 2019 because of repeated instances of sexual harassment of colleagues, not because his skin is white, a federal appeals court decided.

Paul Ossmann was fired from CBS46 TV in 2019 after almost three decades in the weather broadcast business, after female co-workers complained about his sexually charged comments, requests for nude photos and other inappropriate actions, a panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals explained. Ossmann argued that the harassment allegations were a pretext and that he was let go because of reverse racial discrimination.

Ossmann lost in federal district court in 2022 but pressed his case all the way to the 11th Circuit, one stop short of going to the U.S. Supreme Court. His lawyers argued that his replacement at the TV station was a hispanic woman and that race data collected on a corporate form showed that race was a factor and that he was discriminated against.

The appeals court did not agree with Ossmann’s claims.

“The ultimate question in any discrimination case is whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff based on race. Ossmann failed to show that a reasonable jury could conclude that Meredith terminated his employment because he was white,” Judge Britt Grant wrote for the majority of the panel. “The district court’s order granting summary judgment for Meredith is therefore affirmed.”

It was the second time Ossmann had been terminated from an Atlanta TV station. In 2011, after some 20 years on the job, WAGA-TV let him go due to poor ratings and other concerns, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

Ossmann that year filed for bankruptcy protection and gave up his upscale Atlanta home. But he said later that he pulled himself together and in 2012 was hired at CBS46 TV, according to news reports. He was named chief meteorologist in 2017. During that time, though, female co-workers repeatedly complained about his inappropriate behavior, the appeals court explained.

The court said that Ossmann did not produce evidence that he had been discriminated against. “On the other hand, Meredith (the TV station corporation) has produced extensive evidence of Ossmann’s sexual harassment, which is a valid, nondiscriminatory reason for his termination.”

Judge Corey Maze dissented. He noted that by recording race data on employees, the TV station’s parent company had considered race when firing and replacing Ossmann, contrary to what’s allowed by federal rules and recent case law.

Whether the corporation’s human resources department “would have reached a different decision if the races were changed is a genuine issue of material fact that only a jury can decide,” Maze wrote.

“Meredith’s hand is in the cookie jar,” he added, citing from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that struck down affirmative action in college admissions: “Outright racial balancing is patently unconstitutional.”

Ossmann is now in the Cincinnati area, according to his Linkedin page.