Q: What happened to Nicole Mitchell from The Weather Channel?
—Mary Shepherd, Atlanta
A: Mitchell, a meteorologist who was terminated by The Weather Channel in 2010, is devoting more time to her duties with the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and recently was promoted to major, she told Q&A on the News. Mitchell, who has been a "Hurricane Hunter" with the Air Force, filed a lawsuit against The Weather Channel and parent company NBC/Universal in 2012 for violating her rights under The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), a law that "prohibits discrimination against persons because of their service in the uniformed services." Mitchell said her hearing is set for August. "… The lawsuit, sadly, takes a lot of time and energy," she said. "I've also been doing some advocacy for other people in this position because, especially with long deployments the last several years, employers breaking this law (have) become more common." She added that employers have figured out the government doesn't really enforce the law, "so people are stuck unless they have their own resources to fight." The Weather Channel can't comment on pending litigation, but issued a statement in 2012, saying: "… there is more than one version of what occurred. We disagree with many of the assertions in the plaintiff's press statements and intend to vigorously defend the matter in the arbitration process."
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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