Ex-anchor's suit against CBS3 heads to trial in May [Updated]
A Philadelphia Common Pleas judge has set a May 13 trial date in the civil case of Lane v. CBS Broadcasting Inc.
A Philadelphia Common Pleas judge has set a May 13 trial date in the civil case of Lane v. CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane alleged in a lawsuit that the station was negligent for failing to stop her onetime coanchor Larry Mendte from hacking into her work and personal email accounts, and spreading gossip about her to other news media.
Lane, who most recently worked as an anchor and reporter at KNBC in Los Angeles, where she now lives, had her contract with CBS3 in Philly terminated in 2008 after a series of incidents, including her arrest in New York City after an altercation with police.
Paul Rosen, her lead attorney, said he was not immediately available to comment Wednesday afternoon on the upcoming civil trial.
Late last month, Judge Mark Bernstein set a May 13 date for the trial, which will take place in a City Hall courtroom.
In November, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Lane's lawsuit could proceed to trial.
The high court declined to consider an appeal of a Superior Court decision from February 2015 that revived Lane's lawsuit.
Superior Court ruled that a lower-court judge erred when he threw out Lane's case in 2012, after deciding that she intentionally destroyed a laptop containing files critical to the station's defense.
The appellate court said CBS3 and Mendte had failed to prove that any such files existed, and that relevant documents were already preserved and available.
CBS3 has previously said in a statement: "We look forward to presenting our case in court, and remain confident that we will prevail at trial."
(This story was updated with the outcome of Lane's assault case in New York and with added information about where Mendte now works.)
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