A former WHEC (Channel 10) meteorologist filed suit Monday alleging that Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren defamed him when she accused him of uttering a racial slur on the air in January.
Jeremy Kappell was fired by WHEC management after he spoke a phrase that sounded like “Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park” during a segment on the evening news that showed a shot of the downtown Rochester park bearing King’s name. Kappell, who had worked at the station since 2017, did not correct himself at the time.
Two days later, Warren and City Council president Loretta Scott demanded Kappell be fired, saying his use of a “racial slur” was “beyond unacceptable.”
Kappell later apologized, saying he had “jumbled a couple of words” and did not intend to use racially offensive language. But WHEC fired him nonetheless.
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