Fired CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has demanded $125 million from the media network in an arbitration filing that has made claims of his reputation being smeared.
Chris Cuomo was terminated after an investigation into some claims that he had improperly helped out his brother, former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the many accusations of assault and sexual harassment made against him.
In the arbitration that was filed against CNN, Chris Cuomo claimed he had been unjustifiably fired and asked to be compensated for the loss of his future wages.
“As a result of Turner’s decision to unceremoniously terminate him, Chris Cuomo has been damaged in a lot of ways. Chris Cuomo has had his integrity smeared unjustifiably, which will make it hard if not impossible for Chris Cuomo to locate similar work in the future and having damaged him in amounts that exceed $125 million,” the filing stated.
“Turner’s unjustifiable firing of Chris Cuomo is nothing more than what seems to be a rush to judgment and caving to the uninformed public and the internal pressures that was only based on assumption and speculation instead of the evidence and facts,” it continued.
The investigation that has led to Chris Cuomo’s firing has also led to the disclosure of Jeff Zucker’s improper relationship with Allison Gollust, a top executive at the CNN, . Both have resigned shortly after the revelation.
Chris Cuomo’s filing makes claims that he kept Gollust and Jeff Zucker updated on his activities and thereby thought he had approval everything he was doing.
“CNN, including Gollust and Jeff Zucker, knew of Chris Cuomo’s role as his brother’s confidant and sounding board, and all the details of the interactions he had with Governor Cuomo and his staff,” the filing stated. “Chris Cuomo had no reason to think that his assistance to Governor Cuomo was inconsistent with Turner’s or CNN’s policies, especially given the fact that Jeff Zucker and Gollust had also encouraged him to do this and had given advice to Governor Cuomo as well.”
