MEDIA LAWSUIT? WKYC fires 22-year meteorologist Hollie Strano after 2023 DUI bodycam videos go viral

this is like my worst nightm see guys this is my worst nightmare okay you all right yes I am okay you know what happened yes what happened what happened was I was an idiot well you hit that pole really hard yes a popular Ohio broadcaster was just fired seemingly on her day off Labor Day 2024 but it sounds like she might not be going down without a fight using the legal system perhaps she will employ some high-powered attorneys to launch a wrongful termination lawsuit let's dig into the controversy Brewing you might remember the viral bodyw warn camera videos from Thanksgiving 2023 that featured popular meteorologist Holly strain crashing her vehicle in a dramatic fashion if you haven't seen the body cam videos find the link to them below Holly was arrested and charged with OVI last Thanksgiving today Holly has been fired by WKYC Studios after working for WKYC channel 3 news for more than 20 years she posted on Facebook about her termination Monday morning September 2nd 2024 at 9:01 a.m. ironically Holly was fired on Labor Day Holly's post has gained nearly 3 3,000 reactions and almost 200 comments in two short hours she wrote I am sad to share that after 22 plus years of dedicated work WKYC and tegna decided to terminate my employment after I shared my recovery Journey publicly I believe the actions of WKYC and TNA demonstrate the stigma surrounding addiction that so many in our community experience every day I have been honest and authentic about my journey and I will continue to do so for me but also for you and everyone who is struggling in silence for fear of this type of conduct by your own employers I'm continuing to prioritize my sobriety and health and I am also so grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many of you throughout this journey thank you for welcoming me into your home for all of these years it's been the privilege of a lifetime it sounds like Holly is setting herself up for a big wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employers it is not clear what specific rules her employer's code of conduct contains and if Holly broke any of those rules from her actions that holiday evening when her crash caused a fire hydrant to flood a business hey someone answer me whoever's there hey man' can you open your mouth for me LIF your tongue up up she was in like 70 M hour down here it's a she driving fox haate lady a what fox ha uh cat uh the anchor which Holly Sano yeah like so the iron you know who that is right what she said I'm on the my aniy you running i d didn't know that was really where she back here oh she she hit Holly pleaded guilty to one count of OVI a first deegree misdemeanor after she crashed her car on akan Peninsula Road in the area straddling the city of acran Ohio and kayoga Falls Ohio a kyoga Falls police officer reported she had been going 70 m per hour in a 35 mph Zone okay okay is this a car is this a car yes okay okay got it yeah I watch I watched the whole thing happen believe it get back in your car get back in your car get off the road told you anything you want me to do can I is there anything I can do like to not have this happen so what can I do to like this so what can I do to make it bettered what do you mean I mean like what can I do I feel horrible guys please like what kind of who's Brad he is my boyfriend your boyfriend yes you want to talk to him yes it's not the end of the world well I do you're all right buddy Fox8 lady what fox eight lady all right man we're going to go in this garage right here okay we're going to do some f sobriety tests all right let's try it again so man she she ramp this okay are you all right yeah Holly was discovered to have a blood alcohol level of 244 which is more than three times the legal limit of 8% Holly has continued to make social media posts tracking her recovery efforts meanwhile certain folks on Facebook are criticizing the decision to fire Holly one wouldbe Ohio Senator wrote Such a missed opportunity by a local media Outlet to bring light on the darkness of our world another person tagged WKYC channel 3 Cleveland and wrote shame on you Holly stano I hope nothing but the best for you never stop telling your story of recovery keep on going with recovery and posting your journey another woman encouraged Holly with these words we answer to an audience of one keep your eyes and gaze fixed on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith Romans 8:28 praying for you now an additional commentator wrote wow what a loss for WKYC you're too good to work for an employer that treats their employees that way I feel like such well this menu is going to check out are you justay over here feel like how you feel I feel your face got some blood on it so how does your face feel any head neck back so she she physically rolled over yeah God hey hello hey hey hey hey hey he hey she is right here with see we do with all the help on the way can you hear me he hi hey she's with the police now come on come on oh is that police there with you now okay I'll let my partner know ma'am come on out of the car your phone's on the ground ma'am come out of the car come out of the car ma'am I just to confirm sir you said you're an officer yes okay come out of the car ma'am all right my partner has returned we're going to go ahead and disconnect airm we got airb and she extremely INX Cy come on are you all right I am okay come on we're going to go up the top of this hill okay we're going to get away from this car we are do you have my phone I'll grab your phone ma'am come on come on up here can I have that for my phone ma'am we we'll worry about your phone in a second yeah that's a huge thing my come on go ahead please sir come [Music] on come on come on come on come on I out this way come on up the hill up the hill H sir no no I'm not going to like come come on I have kids and yeah are there kids in the car no they're worried about me come on come on come on come [Music] on have a seat guys sit down sit down was there anything you want me to do you down there you all right buddy man she she ramp it what's that she ramp okay are you all right yeah all right I went to the the pole when it came down like it blew up so where did you light her up at uh when I was trying to I turned around and I was trying to catch up to her and she was going off the road I little bit further down we could probably still see it but I I think it's still going to be turn my lights on it's probably be he but oh I we're not going to let someone Drive in here so you're you're fine there when I when I was going north around I could see her Veer off the road and go left Center and Veer off the road so you saw that before you lit her up yeah okay and when I turned around she was in like set okay and then she just went right off ramped it hit the pole pole blew up she hit this pole or here no pole that's in the road oh okay cl to the the guard rail and it flipped it and it came so she over there is where she hit and she flipped all the way out here okay she injured okay she when she was talking to me she said she was all right but I don't know what she did here you didn't want to go to the hospital or anything no okay all right can I T you that one one sec ma'am I'm going to I'm going to read you something and then uh then we can talk okay right you the right to remain silent anything you say can will be used against you in a court of law you the right to talk to Laura have him or presentent while you're being questioned can't afford to hire La when be AO to represent before any question if you wish you decide anytime to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements do you understand your rights you wish to talk to me what's going on you want to talk to me what's going on I me I screwed up how'd you screw up man tell you I don't know you don't know no I don't where you coming from tonight I was coming from a family party party did you have something to drink there today yes I did how much did you had to drink I had a glass one glass of wine like how big is a glass like big or small no like champagne tie glass or like big wine glass no like a go I'm not going to lie to you I appreciate you so and then I live I live high heights yeah all right ma'am so this is going to happen I'm going to take you back to Police Department you are under arrest for operating vehicle while impaired okay you will be released tonight so I give you a chance make a phone call have someone come pick you up say this again I say you're under arrest right now for operating v y impaired okay you won't be staying with us tonight you'll be released so I'll give you opportunity to call somebody to pick you up but right now you're going to come with me for a couple hours okay okay is there anything I can do like to not have this happen sorry ma'am there's nothing really you can do at this point you just just shouldn't have been drinking okay and driving you caus a significant accident I'm really surprised you're not as injured as what I saw okay so I'm going to close this door and we're going to head up to the police department and then we'll talk a little further there okay what is Pap is this all you right here these papers yeah okay can I have can you hand that to me I'm in the news Well ma'am that that's irrelevant to us okay I know I I I I understand that but at the end of the day if you head on somebody and injure them then that story is on the news so that that's irrelevant to us okay let's get her property out there we'll put those papers in your property I have your phone and your perch and stuff okay all right I'mma tighten the seat belt up we're not going to put handcuffs on you or anything like that okay you're not pregnant or anything you pregnant or anything ma'am recently given birth first time no handcuffs right now okay we're not going to handcuff [Music] yet all right go ahead talk hello hold on H hey go ahead talk ma'am you can talk someone's on your phone hey hello hey someone answer me whoever's there hello is there an officer there is an officer hello hey what what's going on uh she's not answering what's her name name Holly Holly Holly Holly where's she at someone's on the phone for you hello officer you want to speak to them yes speak to them is she is she okay yes Mom what's can I speak to the officer please um yes you can okay hello officer hi what's going on can you please call this number it will be the best help for her right now and the best person for you to talk to okay who is this uh it is her sister-in-law but she is out looking for her actively right now okay now give you the number yeah one second yeah of course okay thank you so much all right all right hello hello this off CS Police Department who is this off officer Williams with the kago Falls Police Department hi I was are you Holly's sister I'm sister-in-law hi you're out looking for her yes all right well we arrested her wait she's been arrested okay she was she was in an accident she was in an accident is she okay she's fine but she's going to be she's going to be with us for a little bit I'll give you guys a call when it's time to pick her up okay okay it'll probably be about 2 hours at The kago Falls Police Department okay okay what is your last name again I'm sorry Williams okay thank you problem goodbye all right [Music] bye yeah um so what's going to happen I'm going to do some uh fill sobriety tests when we get back to the station well I'll run down the play play when I when we get back to station you're going to get searched okay you're going to get searched by a female officer we're going to do fil sobriety test I'm going to read you a couple pieces of paper I'm going to ask you a couple questions I'm going to give you an opportunity to do a breath test and then afterwards you get your copies of your citation and then you will be released okay I have your sister-in-law's phone number so I'll give her a call and let her know she knows where you're at and she knows you're okay I have my phone I have your phone ma'am I have it my k i I spoke with one of your sons he knows where you're at well I mean that's perfect well you were just talking to him no I was not was that not one of your sons JJ is that one of your sons JJ's NE nephew okay uh well you'll be I'll give you your phone when we're when we go downstairs into the police department okay I can't give it to you now cuz there's no way I can give it to you we're going to do all the things we need done and I'll give you your phone I like at least have my phone like not right now ma'am I will give you your phone when it's time okay just be patient huh huh what you say ma'am I that so embarrassing I know it's an embarrassing thing but it's not the end of the world okay huh it's not the end of the world oh well ma'am I'll tell you what uh we are happy that you are not extremely injured cuz you did hit that stuff that uh pole extremely hard and flipped and I'm glad you're okay but right now you're just going to deal with the consequences and then you will continue on with your life okay 15 go ahead I ride a station my 622 at station 2036 we're going to do a some F the vary test first Fox eight lady what all right man we're going to go in this garage right here okay we're going to do some f sobriety test and then we're going to uh go downstairs and I'll give you a phone so you can call some people okay uh this is Officer Zerby after we're done with our fill surpr she's going do a quick search you okay we're going to come in here okay this way I follow you I'm going to follow you man I don't know where I'm going just [Music] [Applause] straight is so stupid it's like it's like horrible you're fine no I'm not all right turn around and face me all righty put your feet together like this you want to take your heels off okay put your hands down by your side and do not move from this position do you understand all right you arear contacts or glasses I do I have contacts you have contact right now M okay that's fine uh besides the accident do you hit your head during the accident your head hurts or anything no any prior head injury no okay any medications that you take that deal with your head or your eyes no okay see this light I do what color is it right I want you to follow this light where your eyes and eyes only without moving your head does that make sense sure okay don't move your head ma'am so pretend look at me pretend there's a string attached from my nose to your nose okay so you're going to make that don't you don't want to break that string you got to keep it straight so that means you can't move your head okay okay you're fine you're fine [Applause] Noe no don't fall forward man keep falling it there you go all right go ahead blink tell me when you're ready we're going to do a longer version of that test okay all right feet back together like this like me all right you ready so set you're fine also you might if you hold her shoulders so she can stand straight she's going to hold you up okay no it's fine CU you keep falling forward and leaning forward okay so all you got to do is not focus on your your balance here just focus on this okay don't move your head follow your eyes high on without move your head okay don't move your head okay keep looking at over over your head okay try it again don't Mo your head okay ma'am come where your head give your head straight okay [Applause] all righty we're going to do some balancing okay some walking okay are you fine with that good are you going to be comfortable doing them in Hills do you want I mean I would love to be in cozy socks but sure you can take your shoes off if you want I was a little bit dir but but I know I don't want you to be like oh it's my heels K I got you well we're going to go through this first okay do you want to do it in your heels or do you want to take them off let's let's just try okay all right ma'am I'm going to put you in a a starting position you're going to when I put you in that position you're going to stand there and do not move from that position I'm going to demonstrate the test and then you're going to do the test but you got to stay in the starting position okay that make sense no okay I'll show you so what I want you do is pretend there's an imaginary line going from you to that number 15 imaginary line straight straight line that goes from 15 the number 15 on the front of my car okay okay imagine it's a straight line from you to the number 15 okay I want you to pick your left foot put it on that imaginary line okay can you do that for me left foot on the imaginary line right foot in front of your left foot heel the toe n no walking yet I'll tell you when to start walking okay you're going to stand just like this left foot on line right foot in front of your left foot heel the toe like this can you do that for me like left foot on the line right foot in front of your left foot heel the toe like this you see how mines are I want you to be just like this man we're going I'm going to have you take your shoes off cuz I I don't I that's we're going to do that okay all right let's try it again all right so so all right come back here where you can see the your imaginary line from you to number 15 mm take your left foot foot on the line right foot in front of your left foot he the toe just like this you see I am I do okay put your hands down by your side and do not move from this position until I tell you to do so do you understand I no you don't understand I'm like I'm going to walk like this you're no you're going to stand like that and stay like that I'm going to demonstrate something and then you'll walk okay just stay like that okay when I tell you to do so which is not yet while on this man line put your hands down by your side you're going to look at your feet you're take a series of nine h of toe steps okay so it look something like this one 2 three I know I did three but you're going to do nine when you get to your ninth step you're going to take small steps around your lead foot like this not not quick turn to small steps around your Lea foot when you get to your nice step and take nine more Hill to steps back like this one two three I know I did three but you're going do nine key points in this test just try to maintain a straight line so I'm going that way that way and that okay maintain the straight line heel the toe steps look at your feet keep your hands down by your side and count out loud every step you take okay it's going to be nine forward small steps around your niin step nine back okay cuz that makes sense sure is there any reason why you can't perform this test is there anything wrong with your feet I hope not nothing wrong with your legs or anything okay no just anxiety okay you may begin whenever you're ready one 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 14 back mhm that demonstrate [Applause] [Applause] [Music] 23 steps correct all right all right ma'am stressful I know it's a stressful thing we're almost done here okay do one more ring Tong really nice love chance to raer all right man want put you want you to put your feet together again like this hands down by your side and do not move from this position do you understand mhm all righty man when I tell you to do so which is not yet you're going to choose a leg doesn't matter which leg you choose I'm going to choose my left okay while keeping your hands down by your side you're going to raise that leg up 6 in off the ground toe point it forward like this you don't want your knee bent not back locked out straight toe pointed forward while looking at your toe your you're an account allow by 1000s look something like this 101 1 and2 13 104 1005 and so on and so forth until I tell you to stop okay key notes on this test if you put your foot down pick your foot back up and continue off when you left off do you understand that test kind of I'll reiterate it again okay so you're going to choose a leg doesn't matter which leg you choose hands down by your side you're going to raise that leg up 6 in off the ground 6 in toe pointed forward leg out th straight you're going to look at your toe and count out by 1000 it looks something like this 101 1002 1003 1004 1005 and so on so forth until I tell you to stop okay and when you if you put your foot down at any point during a test just pick it up and continue off where you left off okay we'll tell you when it's stop okay you're going to go when this officer tells you to do so okay all right you need again all right so I can't be again [Applause] yeah2 20034 hold on this is nering you're fine 10012 you stop good do any you put your shoes back on right now hold on I can do I can you guys are making me you don't have to do any more of the test you're good you're good you're fine we're done we're done you're done we're done man okay just stand right here just put your shoes back on if you can [Applause] stop recording after watching highlights of the events from Thanksgiving Day 2023 as captured on various officers body camam videos what do you think about the WKYC decision to terminate Holly today do you believe the company was well within their rights to fire Holly or do you think they went too far and that Holly could win a big wrongful termination lawsuit against them when Holly's videos went viral last fall many viewers predicted that she would or should be fired for her Reckless conduct which endangered other drivers Holly was the only person physically injured in the single vehicle crash certain viewers didn't appreciate the fact that Holly didn't spend any time in jail and was able to strike a deal to have specific charges dropped while pleading guilty to only one charge other viewers appreciated Holly's honesty in her ensuing journey of sobriety but still Holly has her detractors one woman wrote I know I'll get Flack for this but it was probably all the pictures you shared not the story itself some were inappropriate in my opinion others are calling the firing deplorable while promising to never watch for WKYC again let's close with Acts when they heard this accusation and understood its implication they were cut to the heart and they began grinding their teeth in Rage at him but he being full of the Holy Spirit and led by him gazed into heaven and saw the glory the great Splendor and Majesty of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and he said look I see the heavens opened up in welcome and the son of man standing at the right hand of God