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Former Reporter Sues NY1 Over Busty Betrayal
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 11, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 11, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A lawsuit claiming a hostile work environment at NY1 makes the station sound more like a frat house and not the scrappy channel New Yorkers know and love! The Post reports that Adele Sammarco claims she was fired after numerous complaints about being harassed. Here's a rundown:
- Former reporter Jeff Simmons (now press secretary for William Thompson) "manipulated a picture of her by adding giant breasts, and the photo was then plastered all over the newsroom."
- Gary Anthony Ramsay, the current weekend anchor, "attacked" Sammarco after driving her home from a party; she said Ramsay "held me down with one hand around my neck, crisscrossed my wrists with one of his hands and put his tongue down my throat"
- "News assistants regularly referred to her by the acronym 'BBB' and later told her the nickname stood for 'Big Butt Booty.'"
- She was secretly taped while she and a technician were "struggling with her stuck skirt zipper moments before she went on the air - making the innocent incident appear lurid and sexual.
The tape was later edited into a bloopers reel that was to be shown to the entire company."
- Vice President of Programming Steve Paulus had "a dozen news assistants rate who had 'bigger boobs' - Sammarco or another reporter. Sammarco won."
- News Director Peter Landis once asked her to turn around in a dress she had on so he could "get a good look at it," We love that the Post made sure to take a picture of Sammarco with the photograph (we bet it's "exhibit A" in the lawsuit). Sammarco's lawyer says that ever since she filed the lawsuit in 2002, she's been blackballed. NY1 says the lawsuit is without merit and that Sammarco was fired because her work was "not good."
Tagged
boobs
breasts
environment
gary anthony ramsay
lawsuit
love
new yorkers
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News: NYC
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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