Alycia Lane lawsuit against CBS3 dismissed

A Philadelphia judge has dismissed television news anchor Alycia Lane's former employer, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia, from a lawsuit she filed against it and former coanchor Larry Mendte.

Common Pleas Court Judge Allan L. Tereshko dismissed CBS Broadcasting and Mendte from the suit's defamation claims but kept part of the suit against Mendte alive pending further consideration.

Lane's employment at CBS3 was terminated on Jan. 7, 2008, after incidents including her arrest in New York City, during an encounter with police in which she was not charged.

In his ruling, dated Wednesday, Tereshko wrote that Lane's testimony regarding a laptop computer that she got rid of was inconsistent, and called her contention that she saved all the data from it "a wholesale fabrication."

The lawsuit claimed that CBS was negligent for failing to stop Mendte from hacking into her e-mail and spreading messages and photos to news outlets, and was defamatory when it linked the arrest to the contract termination.

Mendte pleaded guilty to the e-mail intrusion and in 2008 was sentenced to six months of house arrest and probation. That same year, Lane filed her lawsuit seeking unspecified damages.

CBS issued a statement saying it was "very pleased with the court's decision to dismiss all of Alycia Lane's claims against KYW-TV and CBS."

Also dismissed as a defendant was former CBS3 general manager Michael Colleran.

Paul Rosen, Lane's attorney, could not be reached for comment. Lane is now a weekend news anchor for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.