Chris Cuomo seeks $125 million in damages from CNN over his firing

CNN host Chris Cuomo is asking for $125 million from his former employer, claiming that his Dec. 4 termination was illegal and that his former employer’s dealing with of the matter broken his popularity.

Cuomo’s attorneys filed a requirement for arbitration Wednesday with the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation service, saying that CNN executives had been absolutely conscious that he was offering recommendation to his brother, the previous New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The submitting additionally asserts that CNN executives appeared the opposite approach in different circumstances when its stars allegedly ran afoul of the corporate’s requirements and that they failed to discourage the disparaging remarks made about Cuomo by CNN on-air expertise, violating the phrases of his contract.

Whereas lots of the particulars within the submitting have been leaked to the press, the arbitration demand is the primary authorized motion associated to the scandal that led to the pressured resignations of former CNN President Jeff Zucker and his longtime aide Allison Gollust.

Within the investigation of Cuomo’s actions, Zucker revealed an undisclosed romantic relationship with Gollust, violating dad or mum agency WarnerMedia’s firm coverage.

Cuomo, who had probably the most watched program on CNN lately, was within the sizzling seat for a lot of 2021, as studies revealed he suggested his brother on the right way to deal with sexual harassment complaints introduced towards him.

Whereas CNN executives had been conscious of the consultations, they contended they didn’t know the extent of Chris Cuomo’s involvement with the previous governor’s employees, revealed in a report by New York State Atty. Gen. Leticia James.

An outdoor legislation agency was introduced in by CNN to assessment the testimony by Cuomo and different supplies, equivalent to textual content messages, which depict him creating methods that included contacting journalists masking his brother’s state of affairs.

Journalism organizations sometimes prohibit newsroom staff from performing on behalf of a political determine.

Within the submitting, Chris Cuomo asserts that Zucker and Gollust had been conscious of his actions. He mentioned they exploited the household connection by waiving a long-standing situation that prohibited the journalist from interviewing or masking his brother.

When the previous governor turned a media darling for his assertive management through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Cuomo brothers made joint appearances on “Cuomo Prime Time,” which spiked this system’s scores.

The submitting mentioned the Cuomos “expressed reservations” in regards to the appearances, however “CNN demanded by means of its management that Cuomo interview Gov. Cuomo continuously” and that Zucker and Gollust “made a concerted effort to cement and strengthen the community’s ties to Gov. Cuomo and management his media presence for CNN’s profit.”

Andrew Cuomo’s fortunes turned when the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from workplace first surfaced in Dec. 2020. Chris Cuomo supplied assist to his brother and the submitting mentioned “he was all the time clear with CNN about his function as a confidant,” including he was not requested to curtail his efforts till Might 2021 when the Washington Put up first revealed his involvement.

Whereas Cuomo apologized for the what gave the impression to be a journalistic ethics breach, he was not suspended, nor had been his actions investigated on the time. The submitting mentioned “it is because CNN, Zucker and Gollust had been absolutely conscious of Cuomo’s help to Gov. Cuomo and actually, participated and inspired the identical conduct.”

The submitting mentioned CNN’s requirements and practices had been “a consistently shifting goal” that had been modified if the web impact was stronger scores. It notes that CNN host Don Lemon confronted no repercussions for textual content messages advising Jussie Smollett after the actor was charged with staging a homophobic and racist hate crime towards himself. (Smollett was convicted and is now serving a 150-day jail sentence for mendacity to the police.)

The submitting additionally cites how anchor Jake Tapper suggested a Republican congressional candidate on which Pennsylvania district to run in. It additionally notes that authorized analyst Jeffrey Toobin was allowed to return to CNN following a seven-month hiatus after having been fired by the New Yorker for exposing himself throughout a Zoom assembly together with his colleagues on the publication.

After Zucker’s firing, many CNN personalities expressed their dismay and criticized Cuomo, who they noticed as chargeable for taking down their boss. Cuomo’s submitting notes that their statements violated his contract, which required CNN to “make cheap efforts to instruct its staff to not make any deliberately disparaging feedback relating to [Cuomo] within the context of [Cuomo’s] enterprise {and professional} actions.”

A consultant for CNN had no touch upon the submitting.

A consultant for Zucker and Gollust declined touch upon the submitting. They beforehand mentioned that they by no means gave Andrew Cuomo recommendation and that they had been by no means conscious of the complete extent that Chris Cuomo was advising his brother.