ABC News Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit From Ex-‘Good Morning America’ Producer
Former Good Morning America producer Kirstyn Crawford has settled a legal battle against ABC News, which she accused of sweeping under the rug multiple sexual harassment allegations against her then-boss and ex-senior news executive Michael Corn.
A stipulation was filed on Friday in New York state court moving for dismissal of the case “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled, against ABC and Corn, who allegedly assaulted Crawford during a 2015 work trip to Los Angeles for the Academy Awards. Lawyers for Crawford, ABC and Corn signed the document. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
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In a statement, an ABC News spokesperson thanked Crawford “for courageously speaking out about her experience at ABC News.” The rep added, “Ms. Crawford thanks ABC News for its prompt response to her formal complaint in 2021.”
A lawyer for Corn, who has denied the accusations, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The senior executive producer of Good Morning America abruptly departed the network in April 2021. After Crawford sued the company and Corn in August that year, an independent investigation over how it responded to allegations of assault and harassment was announced.
The lawsuit revolved around claims that Corn in 2015 “pulled Crawford’s head into his chest and began kissing her and rubbing her legs” during a business trip to Los Angeles. It also included allegations from former ABC News producer Jill McClain, who accused Corn of assaulting her on two separate work trips. In one incident in 2010, Corn allegedly “pinned her down on a hotel bed, pulled down the top of her jumpsuit, and fondled her bare breasts” after he forcibly entered her hotel room.
Crawford claimed that ABC knew that Corn “had a propensity to sexually harass female colleagues” from several other women who had reported him to human resources and senior management. She argued the network “looked the other way” and promoted Corn “due to his commercial success as a producer,” facilitating the “hostile workplace that [he] cultivated through his influence over subordinates’ careers, sexual harassment, gaslighting, and anger management issues.”
A New York appeals court in May revived some claims, including for hostile work environment and sex discrimination, that were dismissed by the judge overseeing the case, who found that they were brought past the statute of limitations. It also concluded that accusations from McClain, who wasn’t a plaintiff in the lawsuit, shouldn’t be precluded “as any evidence regarding those allegations may be relevant to plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim,” according to the order.
An allegation that the network engaged in quid pro quo harassment was kept out of the lawsuit since “there is no allegation that Corn denied [Crawford] a promotion during the limitations period,” the appeals court ruled.
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