Ojinika Obiekwe Sues Former Network For Discrimination

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A Black TV anchor is suing her community, claiming that she was being overworked and handled like a slave on a “plantation” and that she was reprimanded by her boss for complaining about it in language that made her coworkers “uncomfortable.”

Ojinika Obiekwe, an on-air information persona at New York-based community PIX11, claimed in a lawsuit filed final month that she suffered racist and sexist discrimination at work. The Nigerian-born journalist alleged in her swimsuit that, regardless of her rank as a journalist who had been with the community for 22 years, she was “compelled to do the work of two or three staff, taking on roles as a phase producer and duplicate editor,” the Every day Mail reported.

Obiekwe’s swimsuit additionally claims she had turn into “acutely conscious” that her white male counterparts, who labored the identical place she did, have been receiving extra assist and lodging within the office than she did. In brief, Obiekwe’s lawsuit describes a lot of what office DEI trainings are supposed to right.

The lawsuit notes that Obiekwe’s complaints about her therapy at PIX11 started in 2020, when she made public remarks about it within the newsroom and on air. She reportedly stated about her work surroundings, “This may as properly be a plantation,” and, “Simply name me Django,” referring to the movie Django Unchained.

“My ancestors didn’t undergo what they went via only for me to undergo this. I believed slavery was abolished,” she stated, reportedly. “All that’s left for me to do at this level is choose cotton.”

So, in 2022, PIX11 introduced in Information Director Nicole Tindiglia, who, based on the swimsuit, promised Obiekwe her complaints could be investigated. Obiekwe alleges that Tindilgia fed her an “empty promise” however did no precise work to resolve the difficulty. Actually, Obiekwe claims she was known as into a gathering in 2022, the place Tindiglia “challenged her sincerity in evaluating her state of affairs to slavery,” stated that when most individuals take into consideration slavery, they’re considering “whips and chains,” and advised her that the character of her complaints was “making folks uncomfortable.” Obiekwe claims in her swimsuit that she stood her floor throughout that assembly, and, because of this, a “marketing campaign of retaliation” was launched towards her, which included false allegations by Tindiglia that she wasn’t doing her job.

Obiekwe was reportedly terminated by the community in January of 2023 after she known as into a gathering arrange by Tindiglia, who accused her of “failure to carry out job duties” — the other of what the lawsuit describes — and “insubordination.” The swimsuit claims PIX11 was unable to offer proof that Obiekwe was being insubordinate and never doing her job, and Tindiglia ultimately recanted her claims.

“Ms. Obiekwe was terminated, and her contract was not renewed, as a result of she spoke up about discrimination she was experiencing,” one in all her attorneys, Eric Abrams, stated in a press release. “Past being morally unjust, PIX11 and Nexstar should be held accountable for his or her violations of the legislation.”

Obiekwe’s swimsuit seeks compensatory damages from PIX11 and its proprietor Nexstar Media Group for her wrongful termination.