UPDATE: CBS News told the Washington Examiner in a statement, “CBS News is in the process of reviewing the complaint filed by Ms. Vinograd and plans to vigorously defend against this lawsuit. 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.”
Michael Gavshon said in a statement to the Washington Examiner: “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.
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.
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.”
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A producer for CBS’s 60 Minutes filed a lawsuit against her employer for “unlawful discriminatory conduct” and “unlawful retaliatory conduct” after she attempted to report her superior for inappropriate behavior.
Cassandra Vinograd, a London-based associate producer for 60 Minutes who previously worked at NBC, the Associated Press, and the Wall Street Journal, joined CBS in June.
Months after starting the position, she “emailed senior executives and the general counsel, to describe her serious concerns regarding ‘highly inappropriate, unprofessional and upsetting events'” involving her boss, longtime CBS producer Michael Gavshon, according to the Hollywood Reporter. She claims he sent her an inappropriate photograph showing him urinating on what appeared to be smoldering coal and that he drank excessively during work hours.
She asked for an investigation and to be protected from “retaliation,” but was removed from much of her daily work.
“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.”
A CBS investigation into Gavshon’s behavior determined that the photo “should not have been shared with you,” but added that, “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.”
The lawsuit comes less than a year-and-a-half after the network’s longtime chairman, president, and CEO Les Moonves resigned after facing a slew of accusations that he was physically and sexually abusive toward female employees.
Neither CBS nor Vinograd immediately responded to requests for comments.
