Reuters is reporting, “A woman who works as an associate producer on the long-running CBS television show ’60 Minutes’ today filed a lawsuit alleging she experienced gender discrimination at the TV network. Cassandra Vinograd, who is based in London, says she was retaliated against by CBS after complaining about inappropriate conduct by her boss.”
A complaint filed Tuesday in NY State Supreme Court against CBS Broadcasting says Cassandra Vinograd told CBS her supervisor, “60 Minutes” producer Michael Gavshon, texted Vinograd a photo that left her feeling “disgusted, uncomfortable and scared.”
“In the ensuing days, through a series of swift moving events, Cassie was ostracized, isolated and penalized for calling out what she perceived as inappropriate conduct by Gavshon,” the suit claims. “Gavshon quickly removed her from all stories in production, including a segment she had pitched and performed the majority of the work on. In deference to Gavshon, CBS executives did nothing to stop his blatant retaliation. Worse, senior executives ratified his personal vendetta by willingly sending temporary associate producers to replace Cassie and work with Gavshon.”
CBS conducted an investigation that determined “this is clearly a photo that should not have been shared with you.” But, CBS also said, “Michael has assured us that he sent the photo to you by accident and that he was appalled and embarrassed for inadvertently doing so. We accept his explanation that he sent this photo to you entirely by accident and believe that this was an isolated incident with no malicious intent on the part of Michael,” Hollywood Reporter writes.
CBS News said it “plans to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”