Judge tosses ex-KDKA reporter’s federal lawsuit

A former TV reporter injured in a stunt during Pittsburgh’s regatta in 2017 lost his federal age discrimination case last week when a judge tossed it out, saying he couldn’t prove his claims.

Dave Crawley, a longtime reporter at KDKA, had sued the station and its parent company, Viacom CBS, in 2020.

Mr. Crawley, 73, rode a flying contraption off a 22-foot pier and suffered spleen and brain injuries, after which he was unable to work and his contract was not renewed.

In his suit, he said the defendants retaliated against him for filing a worker’s compensation claim. He also claimed discrimination based on age.

U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy on Friday granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

He said Mr. Crawley couldn’t prove that KDKA had discriminated against him based on age.

He said Mr. Crawley did not provide evidence that similarly situated younger employees at the station were treated more favorably.

As Mr. Crawley said in his own court papers, the judge noted, KDKA “simply allowed Crawley’s employment agreement to expire without doing anything, and without even considering renewal of the contract, because Crawley was on a medical leave without a specified return to work date.”

The judge said that because Mr. Crawley could no longer work, the defendants have “articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for not renewing” the contract.

Mr. Crawley began at KDKA in 1988. In 2017 he was assigned to cover the Red Bull Flugtag event at the regatta.

After he was injured in the stunt, he said he hadn’t wanted to accept the assignment but he felt he had no choice because he had been passed over for other stories for age and health reasons and because KDKA was a regatta sponsor.

Footage of the incident shows him separating from the craft and plunging into the water. He didn’t appear injured after he emerged but later said he lost his spleen and suffered brain injuries.

He went back to work for 10 days after the incident but later collapsed on assignment on Aug. 21 and was unable to work after that.

In the federal lawsuit, he said he was forced to file a worker’s compensation claim and accused CBS of refusing to pay his medical bills.

When his contract expired in July 2018, KDKA did not renew it.