According to reports, Chris Cuomo has filed a $125 million arbitration demand against CNN for “wrongful termination” and defamation of character.
CNN fans were surprised late last year when popular broadcaster Chris Cuomo was fired by the network for reportedly withholding assistance to his brother Andrew Cuomo in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.
Fast forward to the present, and Chris Cuomo has filed a $125 arbitration demand (in an attempt to avoid judicial procedures) against CNN for unlawfully dismissing him and ruining his reputation both individually and publicly, according to recently filed paperwork.
Chris Cuomo, through his legal team Freedman + Taitelman LLP and Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder LLP, has filed a $125 million arbitration against his former employer CNN following his termination in December 2021, according to @Deadline exclusively.
The document reveals why Cuomo is seeking arbitration as well as the breakdown of the money he is asking. “Cuomo has been harmed in innumerable ways as a result of Turner’s unjustified decision to terminate him without cause.
Cuomo’s journalistic integrity has been unjustly smeared, making it difficult, if not impossible, for him to find similar work in the future and causing him to lose more than $125 million in damages, which includes not only the remaining salary owed under the Agreement, but also future wages lost as a result of CNN’s efforts to smear his reputation in violation of the Agreement. Cuomo is now suing Turner and CNN for the full amount of his damages, according to the arbitration.
The $125 million is split into two parts: $110 million for “consequential damages” and an extra $15 million for the outstanding amount on Cuomo’s CNN contract when it was terminated on December 4th, according to Cuomo and his attorneys.
“It should by now be evident that Chris Cuomo did not lie to CNN about aiding his brother,” one of Chris Cuomo’s attorneys, Bryan Freedman, told Deadline exclusively.
In reality, as the scant information provided from WarnerMedia’s inquiry shows, CNN’s top executives were not only aware of Chris’s involvement in assisting his brother, but also actively aided the Governor, both through Chris and directly.”
“As CNN has recognized, network standards were modified in a determined move to improve ratings,” Freedman concluded. Chris was made the scapegoat when those methods were called into question. The lawsuit filed today demonstrates that CNN unfairly terminated Chris and then allowed its workers to defame him, in violation of the stated terms of his employment agreement. Those responsible owe Chris a complete apology.”
Additionally, there is a section of the arbitration file that describes how CNN slandered Cuomo’s character as a result of former CNN CEO Jeff Zucker (who was just fired due to his own sex scandal) failing to follow the conditions of the Agreement that forbade CNN workers from disparaging Cuomo. It further claims that not only were other firm employees slandering his name, but that Zucker was the mastermind behind it all.
