In the years leading up to her DUI and car crash last Thanksgiving, Strano’s boss and news manager Micki Byrnes singled out her alcohol use, which Strano shared via posts on social media, and actively attempted to prevent Strano from talking about her struggles with the substance, the suit claims. And when she did it anyway, it cost Strano her job.
Retaliating against what really is a matter of depression, the lawsuit claims, “is discriminatory.”
“Based on their negative biases against people with substance use disorders, [WKYC] did not want Strano to speak publicly about this disability,” the complaint reads.
In September, Strano announced on Instagram that she had been fired after 22 years working for Tegna, the parent company that owns WKYC. She alleged the station let her go due to sharing updates of her stint in a rehab facility following the crash last November. (Tegna did not comment on the firing at the time.)
Strano and her attorney, Richard Haber, are asking for at least $25,000 in damages—“for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of professional reputation”—along with money tied to her would-be employment.
The suit notes Strano’s mental health issues are common, including dealing with anxiety, which she talked about publicly via an on-air program, “You Are Not Alone,” where she spoke intimately about her personal battles. It ran from 2019 to 2023.
But it was Strano’s social media posts that drew attention. Initially, the suit says, they were lauded by Byrnes. “Your most important asset is your personality,” a 2017 performance review read. Her presence on Instagram, a 2019 review reads, is a “24-hour role.”
Byrnes encouraged Strano’s openness with her anxiety because she and WKYC “believed these disabilities were relatable, and believed Strano’s public disclosure of these disabilities would increase television ratings for the station.”
That praise ended, the suit says, when Strano delved into her battles with alcoholism.
On Thanksgiving Day last year, Strano flipped and crashed her SUV on Peninsula Road, driving about 70 mph in a 35 MPH zone. She had a 0.244 BAC—nearly three times the legal limit — at the time of the crash.
Strano pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga Falls Mayor’s Court to a single OVI charge. Her license was taken away for a year, and Strano had to attend a week-long intervention program. She was also scrutinized in the court of public opinion.
Days after WKYC suspended Strano, she checked herself into a rehab program, and framed the choice to do so as a signal of divine intervention. Case workers took her photo. On Instagram, she called the process her “healing journey.”
Three months later, Strano returned to air. Contract extensions were agreed twice in 2024 but instructed by Byrnes to “only speak about the weather,” the lawsuit says she received her first and only poor performance review this year.
Strano says she was fired in mid-July for what the company claimed was a violation of its policies prohibiting tagging brands on social media. Strano denied the claim and instead says she was ultimately dismissed for speaking not only about the weather but her alcoholism.
WKYC didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Hollie Strano Says She Was Fired From WKYC for ‘Sharing Recovery Journey Publicly’
This article appears in Dec 4-17, 2024.