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A young Indiana meteorologist who said she was abruptly fired by her television station has accused management of monitoring her conversations with her mentor, restricting her social media activity and escorting her out of the building after trying to pressure her into resigning.
Alex Kerkhove, the former WTWO meteorologist whose emotional farewell post earlier this month drew an outpouring of support from viewers, returned to Facebook on Wednesday with a lengthy account detailing what she described as a hostile work environment during her year at the Nexstar-owned station.
“It’s been over two weeks since I was let go by station management at WTWO and I believe now since the dust has settled, I would like to share my story and what happened,” Kerkhove wrote.
Among her most striking allegations, Kerkhove claimed station managers tried to limit her interactions with veteran chief meteorologist Jesse Walker — whom she previously described as her mentor.
“I was told I could only talk to Jesse Walker when we were working for 15-20mins (and they said they watch the security cameras),” she wrote.
Kerkhove said she joined the Terre Haute station because she wanted to immerse herself in a small Midwestern community and learn from Walker, but alleged management quickly worked to undermine those goals.
“I came to this specific station for two things; to be apart of a community that takes pride in its small town Midwest charms and traditions AND to learn from Jesse Walker about all things weather,” she wrote.
“Then station management very quickly wanted to squash and limit the two very things I came here to do.”
She also alleged that she was barred from posting on WTWO’s Facebook page while attending community events on her days off, reassigned away from on-air weather duties shortly after being hired and prevented from working more than four hours during a severe weather outbreak despite volunteering to help.
According to Kerkhove, months of frustration eventually prompted her to begin looking for another job.
She claimed Walker intervened on her behalf, informing the station’s general manager that “Alex has been treated poorly and is looking for other jobs, you need to fix this.”
Management then met with her after learning she had received what she described as a contingent job offer elsewhere.
Kerkhove said executives asked what they could do to persuade her to stay and requested that she put her concerns in writing.
She said she complied because she believed the issues could still be resolved.
Instead, she alleged managers rejected every one of her requests and informed her they intended to advertise her position even though she had not resigned.
“They couldn’t agree to a single one of my ‘asks’ and then in the same meeting said ‘we need to know when you plan on resigning and we will be posting your job tomorrow,'” she wrote.
“They then reinforced their words again in an email and said they would be posting my job.”
Kerkhove insisted she “had never and still [to] this day (06/24/26) have not sent a resignation letter.”
She said management later gave her time to consider her options and consult with an attorney, but ultimately made the decision for her.
“They decided to terminate my position before I had the chance to make a decision,” she wrote.
Kerkhove alleged she was summoned to an early morning meeting on June 8, told it would be her last day, and was pressured to say she was resigning.
“They tried to force me to say I was resigning and then they told me to collect all of my things in the building and I was escorted out the door by HR,” she wrote.
“By the time I was in my car my Facebook had been deleted and my email had been deactivated.”
Earlier this month, Kerkhove announced her departure in an emotional social media post, telling followers she had been “devastated” after management “did not see a future” for her at WTWO.
The post drew dozens of supportive comments from viewers, many of whom praised her on-air chemistry with Walker and criticized the station’s decision.
In Wednesday’s post, Kerkhove also pushed back on what she said were claims circulating inside the station that she had quit voluntarily.
“I know … a station employee has been saying I ‘quit,'” she wrote. “They have taken half truths and twisted it into lies and tried to defame my name.”
Although she described her experience as “messy and disheartening,” Kerkhove said Wednesday’s statement would be the last time she publicly addressed the controversy.
“The way I was treated was wrong,” she wrote. “The way they have treated Jesse is wrong.
“The way young people in this business constantly get treated and used and poorly guided is wrong.”
WTWO parent company Nexstar did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. The Post has sought comment from Walker.
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