NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo reportedly claimed in an arbitration filing on Wednesday that his network's parent company owes him more than $125 million for damages he claims he suffered as a result of his firing.
The 51-year-old, who was fired by CNN in December after it was revealed he was aiding his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his response to the myriad of sexual misconduct allegations levied against the Democrat. Cuomo has claimed the network knew of his guidance.
Although the younger Cuomo was initially suspended, he was eventually ousted, reportedly after an ex-ABC News colleague accused him of sexual assault.
Now Chris Cuomo's attorneys are claiming their client's right to nearly $15 million in lost salary due to his firing, and are arguing that CNN forwent the network's standards and practices to maintain viewers, according to Variety.
In the filing, his lawyers allege network personalities Jake Tapper, Don Lemon and Jeffrey Toobin potentially violated the network's standards, but were not punished to maintain ratings.
"As long as CNN’s ratings would not be hurt, [former CNN President Jeff] Zucker and [former CNN Chief Marketing Officer Allison] Gollust were more than willing to overlook major transgressions by CNN personalities," the filing reads.
The filing notes the alleged misconduct that led to the February resignation of Zucker, who failed to disclose his relationship with Gollust, who also left the company amid the scandal. Both allegedly "[engaged] in blatant misconduct themselves."
Meanwhile, Cuomo's lawyers allege their client "fully complied with CNN’s standards and practices, including by keeping CNN executives apprised of his actions at all times."
"Turner’s unjustifiable termination of Cuomo reflects nothing more than an apparent rush to judgement and caving to uninformed public and internal pressure that was based on speculation and assumption rather than facts and evidence," the filing continues.
CNN declined to comment to Variety, and spokespersons for Zucker and Gollust could not be reached for a response.
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