Annalisa Klebers News12 anchor files complaint with arbitrators claiming she was bullied by bosses and made to have psychotic breakdown after asking for equal pay.
An award winning News12 anchor claims having had a psychotic break after bosses repudiated her demands for an equal pay rise commensurate to other workers at the media entity.
Annalisa Klebers, 42, who anchored the morning news for Altice USA-owned News12 stations in Connecticut and New Jersey, said she experienced a nervous breakdown that her led to the point of ‘suicide watch’ after her bosses came down on the reporter after she asked about a new contract with better pay than the $71,000 she’d been getting.
In the months afterwards, Klebers according to a filed complaint with the American Arbitration Association alleges months of gaslighting at the hands of her supervisors, including being excluded from meetings, along with having ‘demeaning work’ piled on her — including fixing her co-anchor’s typos.
Belittled, demeaned and bullied upon asking for equal pay
‘What management did to me changed my life forever. I almost lost my life. My children came very close to almost losing their mother,’ she told the nypost. ‘I felt like my whole world was caving in.’
Speaking to the dailymail, the anchor stated, ‘As my stress increased, I brought my workload concerns to my news director, to which her solution was to ice me out from the 9 a.m. daily editorial staff meeting. I felt humiliated by this. I was being alienated from the rest of our news team.’
Adding, ‘I was offended, humiliated and felt so belittled. I was extremely stressed, I lost sleep, I lost weight, I was having panic attacks… I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.’
According to her claim, Klebers’ Connecticut show was cut from air, and she was excluded from coverage and forced to work on reporter pieces – a duty not included in the role of news anchor – which increased her workload so much that ‘she barely had a break to eat on most days.’
‘There were days I would work from 4 a.m. until 5 p.m. to try and complete all of the additional work that was piled on to me. I was trying to make management happy and keep my job all while my contract and pay raise were being held over my head,’ Klebers said.
Employment contract held over her head
Klebers, a mother of three, was hired in April 2018.
Prior to asking for the pay rise, Klebers claims supervisors praised her intelligence and work ethic, calling her the ‘sunshine of the newsroom,’ according to her filed claim.
During the pandemic, she was frequently one of just two people in the building, responsible for everything from her own work to ‘making sure the cameras, lights, and teleprompter were working’ and covering then-Gov. Cuomo’s daily news conferences, according to the claim.
The efforts earned her yet more praise and a $4,200 bonus.
It was soon after that Klebers discovered her co-workers were getting double that amount. According to the suit, matters began to go awry for the anchor when she voiced her concerns.
‘I felt humiliated,’ she told the nypost. ‘I was being alienated from the rest of the news team. Management began blaming technical difficulties on me that I had no control over.
‘I did everything managers asked of me and more,’ she added. ‘This all while my contract and pay raise were being held over my head. It felt like management wanted me to quit or react poorly to the things they were doing to me.’
Employer denies causing worker to have psych breakdown, suicide watch
Klebers alleges being cut out of a promotional advertisement featuring storm coverage she helmed — while a male colleague who called out that day was edited into the footage according to the filing.
Klebers put in a formal complaint with human resources before ultimately deciding to resign.
Altice refused to accept her departure, with the company saying tt was required to investigate her complaint.
‘It all sent me into a spiral,’ the anchor said. ‘It was too much.’
‘On Friday, May 13, 2022, I became very ill,’ Klebers said. ‘I had a psychotic break. I was suicidal. This all happened in front of my husband and children and even my sister.’
Klebers was observed on numerous attempts grabbing her car keys and heading to the garage, which doctors later confirmed was the anchor’s attempt at suicide.
She spent six days in the psych ward on suicide watch. She was later fired by Altice while out on disability.
‘Her career was completely derailed, such to the point that she does not see any avenue back to an anchor desk, not at News12 or any media, any newsroom anywhere,’ said her attorney, Anthony Mango. ‘This was brought about by her just making in good faith, raising an issue for the equal pay. “It’s really rendered her disabled.’
Klebers wants the American Arbitration Association to award seeking back pay and damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII.
The lawyer said the former anchor decided to go public because ‘this cannot happen to another person, woman or man, that works in a corporate environment. It should be criminal.’
Responding to the filing Altice USA stated, ‘News 12 prides itself on providing an inclusive and equitable workplace where employees can thrive and are compensated based on their skills, contributions, and merit; any gender discrimination claims are entirely baseless, and we will defend against them vigorously.’
