Bob Mueller slaps Channel 4 over handling of Demetria Kalodimos conflict

Veteran News 2 anchor Bob Mueller came to the defense of his longtime friend and competitor Demetria Kalodimos in her ongoing clashes with Channel 4.

In a Facebook entry posted Wednesday, Mueller said:

"Owners change. Management changes and too often with those changes comes a lack of respect for those with institutional knowledge for those who toiled in the trenches building a legacy of excellence.

“Demetria is one of those people.”

Mueller created the post around 3 p.m. but took it down within a couple hours of this story appearing on Tennessean.com. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday to explain why.

Mueller added he has no knowledge of what might happen between WSMV and Kalodimos. But he urged Channel 4 management to let her have a proper send-off should she and the station part ways.

“Tough decisions should not be an excuse for absolute disrespect of any human being,” Mueller posted.

“And it would be the height of disrespect if the last time Demetria exits Ch4 is at 2 in the morning through the back door with a box of memories from her 33 years of service.”

Kalodimos cleaned out her desk and her work storage area about 2 a.m. Tuesday, leaving colleagues and managers bewildered, newsroom sources said.

Kalodimos, on vacation this week, made the move eight days after she was named as a witness to an age discrimination suit filed against WSMV. The veteran anchor, whose contract with Channel 4 expires Dec. 31, declined comment.

WSMV news director Denise Eck gathered newsroom staffers early Tuesday evening to say the station has made no changes in the anchor lineup, according to two people at the meeting. 

The news director, with tear-filled eyes, went on to say she had no idea why Kalodimos cleaned out her desk.

Eck and new WSMV general manager Dale Woods, reached by phone Wednesday, said in separate phone calls that they wouldn't discuss personnel issues.

In a lawsuit brought by three former longtime WSMV personalities — but not Kalodimos — the plaintiffs charged station managers exposed Kalodimos to "many acts of age-based discrimination and hostility."

Those acts include "public berating" and "ridicule," spreading false rumors that Kalodimos would be retiring soon and referring to the veteran anchor as an "old maid," according to the lawsuit.

The suit was filed in federal court by former longtime reporter Dennis Ferrier (now at Fox 17), veteran anchor/reporter Jennifer Johnson (now a spokeswoman for Wilson County schools) and longtime weekend meteorologist Nancy Van Camp.

► More:Channel 4 sheds veteran Dennis Ferrier, others

Channel 4's owner, Meredith Corporation, issued a statement denying that any employees were mistreated or that age was a reason for any of the plaintiffs leaving the station.

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.