Dennis Ferrier fired because he 'fabricated key details' of a story, Channel 4 says in court papers

Channel 4 fired popular veteran reporter Dennis Ferrier because he "admittedly fabricated key details in a local news story he reported," the TV station charged in court papers filed Friday.

WSMV's owner, Meredith Corporation, made the statement in an answer to an age discrimination lawsuit that Ferrier and former Channel 4 personalities Jennifer Johnson and Nancy Van Camp filed in November.

The story at issue is about a man found shot to death in a car in a downtown parking lot June 29. Ferrier reported a gun was found nearby and that police thought it might've been staged to look like a suicide.

But police later said there was no gun found nearby and they were not investigating it as a suicide.

"Meredith admits that it terminated [Ferrier's] employment effective July 12, 2016 upon learning he had falsified key details of a story he had reported for WSMV," the station said.

Ferrier, now a reporter for Fox 17, issued a statement Monday saying he fabricated nothing and that the error at issue was a simple mistake.

"WSMV is attempting to offset its unlawful decision making by attacking my reputation. On a June 30 broadcast, as my father lay dying, I made a simple misstatement on the air based on information given to me by the desk," he wrote.

"The misstatement was minor, inconsequential and easily corrected. WSMV’s attack on my reputation is a smoke screen. I have never fabricated a story in any way, shape or form and believe the judicial process will reveal the truth."

WSMV general manager Dale Woods — who took the job after the station fired Ferrier — declined to comment on Ferrier's statement.

In the original lawsuit Ferrier, Johnson and Van Camp filed, their lawyers questioned the timing of Ferrier's firing.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Brian Winfrey, pointed out that Channel 4 didn't fire Ferrier until two weeks after the story aired — and a week after Ferrier complained to human resources about a hostile work environment toward him and other older on-air personalities.

Within a month of the firing, the Metro Nashville Police Department gave him an award for excellence in reporting.

► MORE: Demetria Kalodimos says WSMV got rid of her with a letter on her desk

► MORE: Suit alleges Demetria Kalodimos called "old maid" by her bosses

► MORE: Channel 4 sheds Dennis Ferrier, others

Also in Channel 4's response filed in court, the station denied any hostility or harassment against longtime anchor Demetria Kalodimos, who is not one of the plaintiffs.

Ferrier, Johnson and Van Camp charged that Kalodimos was targeted with "many acts of age-based discrimination and hostility."

The plaintiffs charged management referred to Kalodimos as "and old maid" and a "matriarch," and spread false rumors that she was retiring.

Kalodimos parted ways with the station Dec. 31 when her contract expired.

WSMV said in a statement that Kalodimos gave "no timely responses" to the station's offer of "an extension of her contract."

In her own statement, Kalodimos said there was no real offer to extend her contract as WSMV asserted, just an offer for two more weeks "so that the station could create the illusion that I retired."

Kalodimos also said it was "quite sad" that her split with the station came "with a letter left on a desk, no conversation, no face to face meeting, no thanks."

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.