Chris Cuomo seeks $125M settlement from CNN for ‘unlawful’ firing

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former CNN host Chris Cuomo is seeking $125 million in damages for an alleged wrongful termination.
• Cuomo was fired in December for allegedly helping his brother, Andrew Cuomo, in his sexual harassment charges.
• The former CNN host maintains that he was transparent with the network and had not violated the network’s policies. 

Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is suing the network and its parent company, Turner Services Inc., for a $125 million settlement over his “unlawful termination.” Cuomo was suspended indefinitely in December 2021, then fired by CNN a few days later.

The former Cuomo Prime Time anchor was found to be aiding his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in his sexual harassment scandal.

Chris Cuomo’s lawyers say the journalist was wrongfully fired amid “false claims” that he “violated CNN’s standards and practices” by helping his brother “during a time of personal and political crisis.” The lawyers also accuse CNN of doing a “smear campaign.” Chris is seeking $15 million for the salary he says is owed to him for the remainder of his contract. An additional $110 million is also being sought for “consequential damages.”

“Cuomo has had his journalistic integrity unjustifiably smeared, making it difficult if not impossible for Cuomo to find similar work in the future and damaging him in amounts exceeding $125 million,” the document states, claiming he lost “future wages” as “a result of CNN’s efforts to destroy his reputation in violation.”

“Turner’s unjustifiable termination of Cuomo reflects nothing more than an apparent rush to judgment and caving to uninformed public and internal pressure that was based on speculation and assumption rather than facts and evidence,” the document states.

The arbitration filing names CNN anchors Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper and Don Lemon as part of the alleged smear campaign that made Chris “a dishonest, unethical liar.” It also names former president, Jeff Zucker, and ex-marketing executive, Allison Gollust. 

In February, Zucker resigned for not disclosing his relationship with Gollust, who previously worked for Andrew Cuomo. Gollust also resigned weeks later.

“CNN, including Zucker and Gollust, knew of Cuomo’s role as a confidant and sounding board to his brother,” the filing says. “Cuomo had no reason to believe that his assistance to Gov. Cuomo was inconsistent with CNN’s or Turner’s policies nor its expectations, especially given the fact that Zucker and Gollust had encouraged him to do so and had themselves provided advice to Gov. Cuomo.”

The filing calls out the “entirely fabricated” sexual misconduct allegation against Cuomo, claiming “the timing” strongly “suggests it had the objective of battering Cuomo with false accusations while he was already on the ropes.”

Source: Yahoo Entertainment