Rich on the Road

This post is really aimed at my friends in the TV News business but some viewers will recognize the name Erika Ruiz as well. Erika was my weekend co-anchor for a few years in the late 90's. Very nice lady, good anchor, one of several excellent co-anchors I've been blessed with over the years.

Erika left us to take a weekday anchor job at the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque and whenever we traveled to that part of the world Catherine and I would always try to catch her broadcast. A few months ago I saw in the trades that she left her job. It surprised me. No explanation was given for why. But, I found a story this week that may shed light on what happened.

I haven't talked to Erika, I'm just sharing here a story from UPI:

ALBUQUERQUE, May 15 (UPI) -- Former Albuquerque news reporter Erika Ruiz's husband is suing KRQE-TV for allegedly probing his past in an attempt to end the couple's engagement.

Shawn Bryan is requesting $25,000 in damages for emotional suffering he claims to have experienced after KRQE performed the alleged snooping, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Bryan said the station went against the Drivers Privacy Protection Act in 2006 when it used his license plate number to dig up information that could hurt his relationship with his fiancee Ruiz. The couple was married early last year.

"For all the wrong reasons, KRQE took it upon themselves to do a background check based on my client's license plate to determine what, if anything, they could find damaging to share with his then-fiancee, Erika Ruiz," attorney Sam Bregman said.

A longer story in the Albuquerque newspaper indicates that there was a meeting between Erika and station execs in which they presented what they'd found about her then-fiancee. And, that the relationship between Erika and the TV station was strained from then on. Here's the longer story: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/306547metro05-15-
08.htm

As far as I know, she is still not working in the business. She may be waiting out a non-compete clause so she can stay in Albuquerque and work for another station. She was a very popular anchor in El Paso (under the name Erika Castillo) before she came to Dallas. I'd be surprised if she doesn't end up back on TV somewhere.

Rich