KOAT

Sexual Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Greg has his favorites, and they are allowed to get away with anything be that sexual harassment, regular harassment, racial discrimination. They also get other preferential treatment (cushy schedules, more resources).

Communication is terrible, events like yearly elections and show launches aren't planned out in advance. Management sends out a vague email the night before. We're always short staffed and people don't want to come work here with Greg Sheppard's reputation, and who can blame them. The station doesn't have a Human Resources department, so they don't document complaints unless you call corporate. Hearst is well aware of what's happening, but for some reason they aren't doing anything.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

It's an ongoing debate in the newsroom. Who is worse, Greg or his grossly incompetent unethical Assistant ND. Melissa Williams is allowed to make horrible decisions constantly.He'll sort of agree but do nothing about it. They are close friends outside of work and she will walk about of the building to end her day at 5:15 while the newsroom is in shambles. Check and see how many job openings this station has. I'm still friends with producers and reporters who are ready to quit based on constant harrassment. Melissa Williams needs to be investigated. She will tell us one thing then if it fails she lies and says it wasn't her idea. Countless examples. She will approve your script and mess it up so much that it becomes wrong. She's a bigger problem than Greg. But again, he is the boss and let's her get away with anything. That's what happens when corporate lets them hire their drinking buddies. This is a Hearst station but it is a terrible place to work. Do your homework first.

The newsroom has been gathering proof of mistreatment and illegal practices of how they treat employees. There are some excellent people still there. Many work very hard and care.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

What more can I say what hasn’t before. Nothing has changed since the last post on this website. His Assistant News Director, Melissa Williams, contributes the most to the toxic environment. She is very two faced, laugh with you one minute and the next she’ll be your worst enemy. She targets certain people to feel her wrath. She doesn’t talk to her employees in a managerial manner. She leaves early on many occasions with no explanation. Greg has turned very quiet, he won’t get involved anymore unless he has to.

What more can be echoed that hasn’t been said hasn’t been already. It seems like the New General Manager and Hearst Corporate don’t care about how their employees are treated. The number of current openings and forthcoming people leaving should be an alarm, but it’s not.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Greg's not the major issue as much as his highly incompetent Asst. N.D. When she actually decides to show up for work for a full day she makes horrible decisions and sets the station up for lawsuits constantly. She takes forever to approve a script then when she changes something that is completely factually incorrect which is almost daily, she won't admit it and blames the reporter or another manager. They don't care when viewers call about these huge mistakes that are gonna get the station sued. Reporters and producers have no idea what she does on a daily basis. She sits in her office with the door shut. Greg will never admit she's such a huge liability because they are personal friends.

And does @hearst care that this station for OVER A MONTH HAS had NO lights around the station for the 3am crew or the night crew? Parking lot is pitch black. Employees are left to walk in and out scared. Dozens of employees have voiced concern to managers. They just say they're working on it. This station has had so many calls to the cops about drunks, and people with weapons just walking onto the property and they think it's ok not to put lights on or find some other solution temporarily. This places is a craphole, used to be a great place. The last 6 months are just awful.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The biggest issues are the managers, expecially the assistant ND who is a mix of clueless and just doesn't care. She's either rarely there or leaves during our afternoon news as producers need help and reporters are begging for script approval or assignments. She says one thing then throws you under the bus if her boss wants it a different way. The station in the last 6 months doesn't care at all about facts. Managers are all going in different directons. And forget SAFETY. Does @hearst care that their employees have been walking in at 3am and out at 11pm in complete darkness because noone cares that the entire parking lot lighting has been broken for a month. The station has had dozens of problems with crazy people on the property. Cops take hours to arrive. And they feel it's ok to not light the area. It's a TV station with no security, Managers say it will get fixed eventually.

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Greg Shepperd and Melissa Williams are the source of the toxicity. They are scared to confront people of color and tend to not take us seriously. They don’t treat everyone fairly either.

Don’t come work at KOAT until Melissa Williams and Greg Shepperd are gone. They have both ruined the integrity of this station. They constantly find reasons to berate the staff and look for reasons to keep you in trouble.
Nothing is ever their fault, even though they make the bad decisions.
They talk down to the staff all the time, and they don’t respect their employees or their employees needs. They’ve attempted to deny time off for emergencies. They have yelled at a reporter for not having good story pitch because their spouse was in a car accident and was focused on their family instead of a story pitch.

Greg and Melissa both are on the verge of breaking everyone in the newsroom to the point that there’s rumor of a mass walk out. Many producers and reporters are not renewing their contracts because of how terribly run Greg and Melissa have the station. Stay away! Take my advise as a reporter who was duped into coming here