Ecdysiast/Journalist Sues Daily for Stripping Her of Her Job

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Short-time society reporter and part-time exotic dancer Sarah Tressler has filed a gender discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against The Houston Chronicle, which she claims terminated her after learning about her second job.

According to accounts by The New York Daily News and Associated Press, Tressler, a New York University journalism graduate who is represented by attorney to the stars Gloria Allred, worked for the Chronicle, for whom she previously freelanced, from January until March of this year as a society reporter.  She alleges that after a weekly newspaper reported that she worked as a stripper, the Chronicle dismissed her.

According to the news articles, Tressler said she did not include her dancing experience on her resume or Chronicle job application because it was never a full-time job. Tressler maintains a Facebook page titled "Diary of an Angry Stripper," and has both a "DAS" app and a book in the works.

Attorney Allred was quick to note that her 30-year-old client was not engaged in any unlawful activity and that her clothes shedding to music did not interfere with her duties as a journalist. It remains to be seen whether the EEOC will reconcile Tressler writing about polls as a journalist and writhing around poles as a stripper.

Correspondent Out-'Foxed' in Discrimination Lawsuit

Image via WikipediaIn EEOC v. Fox News Network (Case No. 10-1660(RJL)), U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Richard J. Leon last week granted summary judgment for the defendant against sex and age discrimination claims brought by its Washington, D.C.-based homeland and national security correspondent Catherine Herridge.

Herridge, Fox's highest paid Washington bureau correspondent, sought relief, including punitive damages, alleging she was financially retaliated against during contract negotiations with the news organization, according to McClatchy Co. blog Suits & Sentences. Fox apparently offered Herridge a three-year contract renewal that paid $495,000 in Year 1, followed by annual increases to $530,000 and $570,000, which she countered, initially with a request that started at $621,000 in the first year and grew to $821,000 by year 3 and then subsequently changed to $900,000 in the first year and a request she be assigned anchor duties.

In his 17-page Memorandum of Opinion, Judge Leon ruled Herridge failed to prove financial injury, and branded her salary demand "astronomical."  Judge Leon wrote: "Herridge's allegations of retaliation, and her eagerness to blame Fox News for delays in salary negotiations are belied by persistent and unfeasible demands detailed in the record."

Apparently, the Court found Fox News made a liberal contract offer to Herridge that would ensure her personal security, if not national security.