Meteorologist Wren Clair sues KSTP over sexual harassment and retaliation

Wren Clair alleges she faced sexual discrimination and harassment while working as a meteorologist for KSTP-TV in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Clair, who goes by Renee Fox in the lawsuit, abruptly left the station in February after nearly seven years, joining KARE 11 in May.

The lawsuit details a wide range of mistreatment, alleging that Clair faced “severe, overtly sexist conduct by her coworkers and superiors.” The conduct reportedly involved sexist remarks and harassment, rude and aggressive behavior, sabotage, and retaliation. It also detailed an assault while reporting from the Minnesota State Fair.

After Clair repeatedly reported the alleged misconduct, she was demoted, fired and replaced with “a less qualified man,” the lawsuit said. At the time of her termination, Clair had two years remaining on her contract.

In response to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, KSTP denied the allegations and said Clair was fired for poor performance, despite never having received any formal disciplinary action.

“For years, Ms. Fox put up with sexist double standards and offensive conduct at KSTP,” according to a statement from her attorney Paul Schinner. “When she finally reported it to Human Resources, she was quickly demoted and then abruptly fired. KSTP’s vague allegations about Ms. Fox’s ‘performance’ are bogus, raised only after Ms. Fox started opposing discrimination and harassment.”

Clair joined KSTP in 2018, after working as a meteorologist in Boston and Rhinelander, Wis. In 2023, she earned a master’s degree in environmental science from Johns Hopkins University, according to her KARE 11 bio.

KSTP has a “deeply ingrained culture of inappropriate sexual conduct and sexism” that was traced back to former chief meteorologist Dave Dahl.

Dahl made repeated comments to Clair about her body, talked about his sex life in graphic detail and engaged in a range of other sexually offensive behavior and comments.

Dahl retired in 2020. The Minnesota Star Tribune was unable to reach him for comment Wednesday.

Among others, Dahl’s behavior was enabled by former news director Kirk Varner. After Dahl’s departure, Clair was subjected to discrimination based on her sex by Varner.

Varner, who left KSTP in March, declined comment Wednesday.

Meanwhile, two of her male peers, Ken Barlow and Jonathan Yuhas, did not work constructively with Clair. As she arrived for shifts to relieve them, the two would leave her with inaccurate forecast information and would not coordinate with her, leaving Clair scrambling.

Clair said her concerns about that conduct were dismissed and she would be blamed for miscommunications.

While reporting from the Minnesota State Fair in August 2023, Clair was sexually harassed and assaulted by drunk attendees. She reported the incident to Varner and said she felt unsafe and was not provided enough security.

In early to mid-2024, Clair began to more formally oppose the conduct of Varner and other male co-workers by filing complaints with the station’s human resources department.

She was demoted in October 2024 and fired the following February. The company’s vice president of human resources refused to explain the allegation of “unsatisfactory performance.”