Did WCCO pay more than just severance to Jeanette Trompeter?

Something else may have gone down, legally speaking, between anchor Jeanette Trompeter and her former employer, WCCO-TV, after she was terminated in March.

On Wednesday, when I interviewed Trompeter about her new job in California with KSBY-TV in San Luis Obispo, I asked her about station gossip regarding a lawsuit she might have filed against WCCO-TV after getting cut loose in March because of CBS-mandated budget cuts.

Word on the street is that although she left WCCO with severance, she also took legal action against the station and got additional money.

"I did not sue them for age discrimination. I got a severance. Period. Not true," she said.

Asked if she didn't sue for some other reason, Trompeter asked me: "Have you seen anything in the court files?"

Well, no, because Minnesota is one of those funny states that allows parties to sue and settle in private without officially filing with a court. While this reduces court filings, to a member of the media it's most annoying.

"Well, nothing was filed," said Trompeter. "That's all I can say."

You mean nothing was filed with the court? "No," she said.

I told her my info was that she got some extra money. "I'm not saying anything," she said.

Returning to matters that she was excited to talk about, Trompeter told me that this job at KSBY was taking her back home. "This is the station I started at, very small market. It's a total lifestyle choice," she said.

Did she have to take a big pay cut? "Yeah," she said.

But that's OK, because she's now within 30 minutes of her parents, her only sibling, and his wife and their children.

Trompeter said she attended a reunion with KSBY colleagues a couple of months ago at which she expressed a desire to "come back here someday. It's so beautiful."

But "I didn't think it would work out, because they didn't have a position and I didn't think they could swing the money. As I got some more nibbles and offers, it's like, I didn't want to start over in a new place. I didn't see anything breaking in Minneapolis for a year, and I needed a paycheck. Why not come home and have a paycheck and insurance, live simply? So that's what I am doing."

Trompeter recently went to London to clear her mind and come to terms with the possibility that she might be moving away from the Twin Cities. She says she's always overcome with nostalgia whenever she flies into central California for family visits. On Tuesday, she found herself feeling thrilled about living there again.

Of course, there is the matter of her Twin Cities real estate boyfriend, David Azbill. "We will try a long-distance relationship for the time being," she said.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.

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