North Attleboro native Kelly Bates has left her longtime job as a TV meteorologist at Channel 10 in Rhode Island and her departure is stirring up a hornet’s nest.
Bates, 49, a Bishop Feehan graduate who now lives in Coventry, R.I., recently departed the Rhode Island NBC affiliate following a contract dispute.
Supporters have started a petition to get her reinstated, with thousands of signatures.
Others have taken to social media to criticize the station and some employees there, including remaining meteorologists.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Bates said that while she’s had disagreements with management, many at the station have backed her, and she is pleading with supporters not to take out their frustrations on her former newsroom colleagues.
“I’d respectfully ask that if you are motivated to advocate for me, please be kind to the newsroom staff of WJAR,” Bates said. “I appreciate all of you, and I can’t express how much your devotion to me has rocked my world.
“What a whirlwind the last few days have been, to say the least. I am profoundly grateful for all of the amazing support I have received — I never in a million years would have expected the reaction that my leaving NBC10 would amount to. I’m incredibly grateful to all of you.”
Bates announced her departure n a Twitter post earlier this week. She had been at the station, based in Cranston, for 17 years.
She said she couldn’t work under the conditions owner Sinclair proposed.
Bates moved from full-time to part-time about a decade ago.