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An associate producer for CBS News’ “60 Minutes” sued the network for gender discrimination on Tuesday, claiming she was punished for attempting to report misconduct after her boss sent an inappropriate photo of himself urinating on smoldering coal.
Cassandra Vinograd claimed she received the “inappropriate and unsolicited photo” from her boss, “60 Minutes” senior producer Michael Gavshon, whom she also accused of excessive drinking. The photo showed two men putting out smoking coal by urinating on it, with their penises visible. Gavshon later said he was 17 at the time of the photo.
“Despite paying lip service about purging men that behave badly and assuring female employees that their voices will be heard, respected and protected, this case shows that nothing has changed and legitimate progress towards eliminating sexual harassment at CBS remains elusive,” the complaint, filed in New York County, said.
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“When she saw the photo appear on her phone, Cassie was disgusted, uncomfortable and scared. Gavshon controlled her fate at CBS,” the suit claimed. “Regardless of the photo being of Gavshon in much younger days, it was creepy and gross to receive a picture of her boss's penis and urine stream.”
An associate producer for CBS’ “60 Minutes” sued the network for gender discrimination on Tuesday.
The complaint says the London-based Vinograd contacted CBS senior executives and management via email in September of this year to describe the "highly inappropriate, unprofessional and upsetting events" involving Gavshon. She asked for an investigation and protection from retaliation.
“Sadly, an impartial investigation or protection from retaliation is the last thing CBS provided to Cassie,” the suit said. “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. Gavshon quickly removed her from all stories in production, including a segment she had pitched and performed the majority of the work on.”
“CBS News is in the process of reviewing the complaint filed by Ms. Vinograd and plans to vigorously defend against this lawsuit,” the network responded Tuesday night. “CBS thoroughly and immediately investigated the matter in accordance with its policies. Subsequently, Ms. Vinograd asked to no longer work with Mr. Gavshon and CBS has made every reasonable effort to honor this request. CBS News vehemently denies there was any retaliation.”
Gavshon said, “At the end of September, I was speaking to my sister in Johannesburg on Whatsapp. She and my elderly mother had returned from the funeral of a childhood friend. We were reminiscing and we decided to share some pictures of him. I sent her a picture of me with my friend who had just died and two others burning our school notebooks after our final high school exams. I was 17 years old at the time. In the photo, my friend who passed away and I were urinating on the fire – it was an act of immature adolescent rebellion 46 years ago.”
He continued, “An hour later, to my horror, I realized that I not only sent it to my sister, but I had accidentally included my colleague, Cassandra Vinograd, the associate producer with whom I work at 60 Minutes in London. I immediately deleted the picture and apologized profusely. I was mortified. The following day I went in early and reported the incident. I cooperated with an investigation by the company and was told not to come into work during the course of the investigation. I continue to regret this mistake and sincerely apologize for it.”
His statement ended, “I also want to refute Ms. Vinograd’s allegations regarding drinking and add that I have an established record of responsible behavior at work over the last thirty years.”
Vinograd did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News.
The suit noted that Gavshon apologized and claimed the photo was meant for his sister.
“Shortly after Cassie began working for Gavshon, she became aware that he drank alcohol often and excessively. Although Gavshon drank openly in the office and out in the field in front of CBS employees, no one said anything about it. Cassie quickly realized that Gavshon had been doing this for years, and employees were expected to tolerate him in a drunken state, even when he became belligerent or passed out drunk in her office,” the suit says.
Vinograd now “sits alone in her office with no work to do,” raising the eyebrows of colleagues, and a male HR employee warned her against complaining about her boss while a vice president told her to keep her complaint confidential, according to the lawsuit.
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“Such blatant retaliation is abhorrent. Historically, women opted to stay silent about gender-based misconduct out of fear of precisely the type of retribution that CBS now is inflicting on Cassie Vinograd. CBS's purported stand about valuing female employees' voices is meaningless,” the suit claims.
Vinograd previously worked for NBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press, according to her website.
Back in September 2018, now-former “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager was fired for violating the company policy after he was accused of sexual misconduct. His abrupt departure was not directly caused by the allegations, but he was dismissed for demanding via text message that a reporter on his staff cover the story a certain way.
Les Moonves famously resigned his position as CBS's CEO in 2018 after at least 12 women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct in a pair of New Yorker articles authored by Ronan Farrow. Shortly after the claims surfaced, CBS announced plans to donate $20 million to charities affiliated with the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace.
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“Duped by its self-serving PR campaign and representations from executives, Cassie Vinograd learned the hard way that CBS is doing nothing to change,” the complaint says.
Vinograd is seeking damages to be determined at trial plus prejudgment interest, to compensate for "all monetary and/or economic damages plus further relief."