Former star anchor Chris Cuomo is preparing to sue his former employer, CNN, for $18 million left on his contract.
Gatekeepers News reports that CNN, on Saturday, sacked Chris Cuomo for his role in helping his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, craft his defence during sexual harassment allegations.
Chris is claiming that CNN President Jeff Zucker knew about his involvement in his brother’s sex pest probe, which the network called ‘patently false.’
The former anchor has now hired lawyers and is preparing to file a suit against CNN if it does not honour the remainder of the four-year contract he signed last year, under which he receives $6 million a year, according to the New York Post.
Unnamed sources have however told the Post that the network has “no intention of paying Cuomo a penny,’ noting that ‘if he gets a settlement, there would be an uproar.”
CNN had earlier suspended him after New York Attorney General Letitia James released documents revealing that he had called his ‘sources’ about planned news reports regarding his brother as he tried to dig up dirt on at least one of the former governor’s accusers.
According to reports, the accusations that Chris sexually harassed a former co-worker at ABC was the final straw that led to his firing.
It was gathered that CNN was set to investigate an unspecified allegation dating back to Cuomo’s time at ABC before he was fired.
Chris was sacked days after Debra S. Katz, a prominent attorney who also represents one of Andrew Cuomo’s accusers, Charlotte Bennet, told CNN about a client with an allegation of sexual harassment against the younger Cuomo.
The allegation is “unrelated to the Gov. Andrew Cuomo matter,” Katz said in a statement.
Although Chris’ spokesman has maintained that “these apparently anonymous allegations are not true.”
But Chris Cuomo had also previously been accused of sexually harassing his female superior at ABC back in 2005.
In an op-ed for the Times in September, producer Shelley Ross wrote that Cuomo walked up to her, hugged her and firmly grasped her buttocks as her husband sat behind her.
“I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss,” he said, according to Ross.
