CHICAGO (AP) -- A physician fired as medical reporter at WBBM-TV filed suit against the CBS affiliate accusing it of breach of contract and age discrimination.

The suit filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court also accuses the station of defaming Dr. Michael Breen's character. Breen is seeking the $1.1 million he says he is owed for the remaining years on his contract as well as $3 million in punitive damages.

Breen, 50, said that WBBM told him he was dismissed because he had violated journalistic standards by using similar voiceover narration in two reports -- one of which aired in May, and the other last month. He claimed the real reason he was let go was because the station is trying to save money by hiring younger on-air talent.

Breen had been with WBBM since 1995. He has reported for television on medical matters for more than two decades and came to Chicago from WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.

Breen also filed an age discrimination complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Station officials declined to comment on Breen's lawsuit or his allegations.

WBBM has been under new management since August, when former WLS-TV executive Joe Ahern took over as general manager. The move was seen as an attempt to shake up WBBM's news operation, which has suffered from poor ratings for years.