Craft as anchor and reassigned her as a general-
assignment reporter. The station defended its deci-
sion based on negative viewer response to Craft’s
performance. Craft resigned and sued Metromedia,
the owners of KMBC-TV until 1982, for sex discrimi-
nation and fraud, arguing that she had been de-
moted because the audience viewed her as “too old,
too ugly, and not deferential to men.”
In 1983, a jury awarded Craft $500,000, but the
judge overturned the award as excessive, because he
believed the jury had been affected by extensive me-
dia coverage of the case. The judge also ruled that
Craft had not provided sufficient evidence to estab-
lish that she had experienced sex discrimination:
Removing an anchor because of poor ratings was
standard procedure for television stations, whose
ratings were critical in determining their “prestige
and profits.” The judge’s written decision also in-
cluded his finding that the station’s news director
never said the much publicized phrase that Craft
was “too old, too unattractive, and not deferential
enough to men.”
The judge ordered a new trial to determine if
Metromedia had falsely promised Craft that she
would not have to make substantial changes in her
appearance when it hired her. The second trial took
place in a different venue, Joplin, Missouri, in an at-
tempt to find an unbiased jury. In 1984, the second
jury sided with Craft and awarded her $325,000.
Both sides appealed the decision. Metromedia ap-
pealed to have the $325,000 award thrown out. Craft
appealed, because she believed that the trial judge
ignored evidence of sex discrimination, and she
wanted the original $500,000 award reinstated. In
1985, a federal appeals court overturned Craft’s
$325,000 award, ruling that there was insufficient ev-
idence to prove that Metromedia was guilty of either
fraud or sex discrimination. In 1986, Craft appealed
to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court refused to
hear her case.The Eighties in America Craft, Christine 261
Christine Craft poses on a news set at KRBK-TV in Sacramento, California, in 1986. The station hired her after she sued former employer
KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri.(AP/Wide World Photos)