WBZ, CBS and others who were sued by ex-TV anchor Kate Merrill are trying to toss a majority of her claims from the “reverse discrimination” lawsuit.

The former WBZ anchor is suing the Boston TV station for racial and gender discrimination.

Merrill left the media outlet under a cloud of mystery last year. Then earlier this year, she sued WBZ, CBS, Paramount and others in federal court — claiming that she was illegally pushed out from the station after more than 20 years as WBZ advanced “a DEI agenda.”

Now, WBZ and the other defendants are pushing back, according to federal court filings. The defendants have filed a motion to dismiss for many of her claims.

“For the reasons set forth below, the majority of Merrill’s claims – Counts I, IV, V, and VI – should be dismissed as she has not pled sufficient facts to support them,” the attorneys for WBZ and the other defendants wrote in the court filing.

Merrill is suing both corporate and individual defendants, claiming they discriminated against her on account of her race and gender.

“The predicate of Merrill’s ‘reverse discrimination’ case is her allegation that the corporate defendants… demoted her and effectively forced her to resign because, in WBZ’s efforts to diversify its on-air staff, it discriminated against White people, including her,” the defendants wrote.

“While the Complaint repeatedly characterizes Merrill as someone who is ‘anti-racist’ – pointing to what she describes as warm personal and professional relationships with some Black people – her allegations rest on the demeaning and unfounded stereotype that the Corporate Defendants decided to hire and advance people of color only in furtherance of a ‘DEI agenda,’ ” the defendants added. “In other words, only because of these new hires’ race, not because they were actually qualified to be hired or to advance in their careers.”

Merrill, who is seeking $4 million in damages, joined WBZ as a reporter in 2004. WBZ promoted her from reporter to anchor, and in 2016, she became the lead 11 p.m. reporter and weekend anchor. In 2017, WBZ named Merrill co-anchor for WBZ This Morning and WBZ News at Noon.

Then last year, Merrill learned that she was being investigated for allegedly treating colleagues differently because of their race.

One of those colleagues was Jason Mikell, a Black meteorologist from Mississippi. When he was hired, he reportedly asked Merrill to help him with the pronunciation of local cities and towns.

Then last April, she texted him during a commercial break to correct his on-air pronunciation of Concord.

“… Defendant Mikell immediately confronted Ms. Merrill, loudly yelling at her on the studio floor and asserting that she was being critical of him,” her suit reads. “His tone was aggressive and unprofessional. Ms. Merrill immediately lodged a complaint with WBZ’s Human Resources department.”

The station didn’t investigate her complaint against Mikell, she claims. Instead, she said an investigation was launched into allegations that she treated colleagues differently because of their race.

The station concluded that Merrill’s behavior was grounded in microaggressions or unconscious bias, and it led to a “very unwelcoming work environment.” She received a written warning, and she was required to complete unconscious bias training.

Merrill was then demoted from co-anchor of the Weekday Morning Show to working weekend nights. She ended up resigning soon after.

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In the motion to dismiss filing from WBZ and the other defendants, the lawyers write that one of the claims should be tossed because Merrill doesn’t “plausibly allege” she was treated differently because of her gender.

“It instead focuses entirely on race, alleging the Corporate Defendants made employment decisions based on unlawful racial preferences that pervaded the company, at WBZ and elsewhere within Paramount,” the attorneys wrote.

“Indeed, several allegations even describe the Corporate Defendants as advancing women over men, highlighting the alleged replacement of White male anchors with a Black female anchor and reporter or the lack of discipline given to a Black female executive for improper racial preferences,” they added.

The lawyers are also trying to toss her defamation claim. Merrill alleges that a WBZ exec “unnecessarily” publicly announced her schedule change in two separate staff meetings to all WBZ personnel.

She alleges that by making this announcement at the conclusion of the investigation, the exec sent the false message to her colleagues that she had engaged in serious wrongdoing.

“This is far from sufficient to support a defamation claim,” the attorneys wrote. “To establish a defamation claim under Massachusetts law, Merrill must prove, among other things, a false and defamatory communication… A true statement cannot support a defamation claim.”

Also, the lawyers argued that another claim should be tossed because Merrill has “not pled actual malice.”

“Merrill presents no facts to show that (their) conduct was driven by actual malice – namely, a spiteful, malignant purpose, unrelated to a legitimate corporate interest,” the attorneys wrote.

Merrill has until Dec. 22 to respond to the motion to dismiss.

A set of signs outside WBZ Boston’s offices. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald, File)