Fired Philly Anchor Sues Fired Philly Anchor

Fired KYW Philadelphia anchor Alycia Lane filed a lawsuit yesterday against former co-anchor Larry Mendte, who pleaded guilty to illegally accessing Lane’s e-mail account last month.

He copped to reading thousands of her e-mails over the course of a few years and is awaiting sentencing. He was fired from KYW in June.

Lane’s lawsuit charges Mendte with invading her privacy and leaking personal information to the media. The suit also named KYW, AP reported, accusing the CBS owned-and-operated station of defaming her before and after she was fired.

Lane was let go from the station after a late-night incident with a New York police officer, among other previous incidents. KYW president and general manager Michael Colleran concluded that the newswoman too often was in the news instead of merely reporting it.

Her lawsuit expanded on one she filed against the station in June, claiming gender discrimination.

“The station believes the claims are without merit,” KYW said in a statement at the time of the first lawsuit, “and will defend the case vigorously in court.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.