The five NY1 anchors and reporters who sued the channel’s parent company over age and gender discrimination charges announced that their lawsuit was closed on Thursday, and that they were all coming out of the NY1 waves.
The lawsuit, filed by longtime anchor Roma Torre and colleagues Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci, was filed against Charter Communications / NY1 in June 2019.
The suit said his employer systematically prioritized male journalists at the direct expense of his colleagues – a pattern of gender discrimination that only increases as reporters age, the suit says.
In a joint statement issued by their lawyers at Wigdor LLP, the five plaintiffs said: “We are pleased to announce that we have reached a confidential settlement of our case against Charter / NY1. After a long dialogue with NY1, we believe that it is in everyone’s interest – ours, NY1 and our viewers – that this dispute be resolved and we mutually agree to separate. We want to thank everyone who supported us in these times – know that the support of each person has made a real difference. “
The law firm declined to provide more information about the agreement.
In a statement, Charter PR spokeswoman Maureen Huff said: “We are pleased to announce that we have reached a confidential settlement of the case filed by Roma Torre, Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci and, as a result, we mutually agree on separate paths. We want to thank them for their years of dedicated service reporting the news to New Yorkers and we wish them well in their future endeavors. ”
When Charter bought NY1 in 2016, it undertook a modernization effort that involved eliminating the older woman from the talent pool in the air, the suit says. These women suddenly found themselves with less airtime, the lawsuit said, cut from campaigns, blocked for high-level reporting positions and were silenced by radio when they voiced their complaints. Their “then flourishing careers have withered” since the acquisition, they said in the process. When the plaintiffs complained, their complaints “either were not taken seriously or were completely ignored, and only led to retaliation and other ill-treatment,” according to the suit.
They also claimed that male anchors were better paid than female colleagues: Torre, who joined when the network was created in 1992, says it earns “less than half” than morning presenter Pat Kiernan does. The suit also mentioned how Kiernan’s 20th birthday with the network deserved a wide promotional campaign, but “Ms. Torre, on the other hand, with a longer term and celebrating 25 years on the air with her own daily live program , received no special promotion. “
News of the exodus of so many talents from NY1 spread to New Yorkers, including the governor:
His lawyers Douglas Wigdor and David Gottlieb also honored their legacies with a statement on Thursday:
“It has been a real privilege to represent Ms. Torre, Ms. Shaughnessy, Ms. Ramirez, Ms. Lee and Ms. Farinacci who have been cumulatively in the air on NY1 for over 100 years. We thank all the people who supported their cause and the many fans who tuned in to watch them fairly and report the news accurately for so many years. “