reporter Lisa Benson Cooper, who is Black; she was fired in 2018 after suing Scripps two years prior, alleging she had been passed over for job opportunities because of her race. Scripps alleged that she had not applied for the positions and cited other reasons, including social media posts, for her suspension and termination. Though the jury awarded damages on the retaliation claim stemming from her firing, it found against her claim of racial discrimination. A second discrimination suit was filed by Demetrice "Dee" Jackson, who alleged that he had been passed over twice in favor of White men after applying to be sports director; this was settled out of court in February 2020, after the station released Jackson in late 2019. Local programming News operation Pre-1993 news Beginning at the start of the 1980s, channel 41 dabbled in producing local news programming. In 1980, when Independent Network News debuted, the station began producing five-minute news briefs to air at the beginning and end of the program. After moving into the Oak Street studios, KSHB-TV continually made noise about starting a full-length nightly newscast of its own, beginning with the 1982 hiring of a news director. However, it took quite some time for any newscast to eventuate. 41 Express began airing on June 2, 1985. The 15-minute 10 p.m. newscast had no traditional anchors—stories were read by a rotation of existing reporters and two announcers already heard on local radio—and prompted the station to expand its news staff from six to twelve people. Despite the shorter length, the newscast—which used zippy graphics and segment titles—gave almost as much time to news coverage as the full-length newscasts on the local network affiliates (though with a heavier focus on national stories), with abbreviated weather and sports reports. There were, however, drawbacks: news staffers were quick to bolt for openings at the established stations, where reporters were seen on camera and news approaches were more traditional. The format was tweaked by May 1986, with more sightings of on-camera news anchors and reporters and an increased share of local news stories. Ratings were also low, and they failed to improve after 41 Express was moved to 11 p.m., after The Late Show, in late 1986; as a result, the newscast was canceled in January 1987 and replaced with more traditional news breaks. A return to news By early 1993, KSHB-TV's news presence consisted of