TV meteorologist says colleague told her she only had her job because of her breasts, lawsuit claims
A former TV meteorologist is suing her former employer after allegedly being told, “You only got your job because of your [breasts].”
Bree Smith has accused the current weather forecaster, Henry Rothenberg, of “sexist verbal abuse” after he made the remark in 2017, according to her lawsuit. Smith and Rothenberg were colleagues for nine years at Tennessee’s NewsChannel 5 before the former meteorologist left in 2025.
She has claimed, in a lawsuit seen by The Tennessean, that the forecaster called multiple women a derogatory, sexist slur “both privately and in the presence of other industry professionals.”
Smith also alleges that Rothenberg told her that her own pregnancy meant that she was “so emotional” after the sudden death of a close friend’s one-year-old baby.
The meteorologist’s lawsuit was filed on December 29 in U.S. District Court and names NewsChannel 5 and its Cincinnati-based owner, The E.W. Scripps Company.
According to her, the broadcaster did not carry out a thorough inquiry into her allegations, instead conducting a “sham investigation.”
She is looking for monetary compensation for “emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment and anguish” and wants NewsChannel 5 to pay a fine to prevent poor conduct in the future.
In Smith’s lawsuit, she also alleged that NewsChannel 5 refused to intervene when deepfake images of her face on semi-nude bodies appeared online.
Speaking to CBS News in May, she said that she felt that online trolls were “weaponizing” her identity.
“I cry myself to sleep most nights, mostly because I don’t want my kids to see me,” she said.
“These impostors are trying to take my story, and my story is mine,” Smith added. “This is my life. I’m 43 years old and I have worked hard and I have loved well, and I’m not going to just roll over and take this.”
She later pledged her support for the Tennessee “Preventing Deepfake Images Act,” which was passed by the state’s Senate later that year.
Despite her efforts, Smith alleges that her workload at the TV channel continued to increase, despite the “absences of her male colleagues.” She even suggested that she had to work for 16 hours straight when Rothenberg vanished for two days.
Smith also claimed that Rothenberg lied about his father dying, before sending his colleagues a photograph of himself “enjoying whiskey on the couch with his father, who was not hospitalized.”
In a public statement, NewsChannel 5 had firmly rejected the allegations made in Smith’s lawsuit.
The broadcaster says it will “aggressively” defend itself in court and maintains that it had negotiated to continue Smith’s tenure at the company after her contract expired.
However, Smith says in her lawsuit that NewsChannel 5 retaliated against her for reporting Rothenberg’s alleged behavior, stripping her of community engagement responsibilities and forcing her to submit an email detailing the work she had completed each week.
“Any concerns brought to us by Bree were investigated thoroughly,” NewsChannel 5’s statement continued. “It is unfortunate that we must now address these matters publicly.
“The facts will show the station took appropriate action and Bree’s lawsuit against the station is without merit.”
