CBS has been ordered to pay nearly $10 million to a former prime govt it dismissed earlier than finishing an inner investigation into allegations that he made racist and sexist remarks, stories New York Put up. The remarks, in accordance with courtroom paperwork and his lawyer, included calling a Black anchor “a jive man” and labelling one other “too homosexual.” CBS allegedly acted below strain from what the manager’s authorized crew referred to as a “woke mob.”Peter Dunn, who served as president of CBS Tv Stations, was eliminated in 2021 after the Los Angeles Occasions printed a report accusing him of fostering a hostile work surroundings. The broadcaster suspended Dunn and one other govt and commenced an inner evaluation. Nevertheless, Dunn was fired earlier than the investigation was accomplished. On the time, CBS mentioned the termination can be handled “as if with out trigger” however that the corporate might revisit the matter as soon as the probe concluded.Months later, after finishing its evaluation, CBS tried to reclassify Dunn’s dismissal as “for trigger,” which might have allowed the corporate to withhold again pay and inventory awards. That transfer led Dunn to pursue arbitration, the place a panel of retired judges discovered the corporate had violated his employment contract.The appeals panel dominated CBS had no proper to delay its determination on whether or not the firing was for trigger. The contract required the corporate to make that dedication on the time of dismissal, not retroactively. Arbitrators mentioned the broadcaster couldn’t invent a “new and nebulous third possibility” to defer its selection.CBS should now pay Dunn greater than $7 million in compensation, plus curiosity, bringing the whole to roughly $9.78 million.“This was by no means about Peter’s conduct. It was to appease the woke mob,” Dunn’s lawyer, Larry Hutcher, advised The New York Put up. “It was just like the Pink Scare, and it was very shortsighted and unfair.”CBS responded to the ruling by citing a procedural challenge and insisted it disagrees with the result. “4 years in the past, we eliminated Peter Dunn as head of the CBS Tv Stations for causes which have been nicely documented and reported publicly,” a spokesperson mentioned. “This determination was not primarily based on the substance of the allegations towards Mr. Dunn.”Hutcher argued that CBS ought to have merely suspended Dunn and waited for the investigation to complete earlier than making any determination about his employment. “The right and prudent response would have been to droop him, proceed to pay him, await the investigation to be accomplished, after which fireplace him,” he mentioned.He additionally famous that Dunn had spent greater than 20 years at CBS and was centered on restoring his status. “We’re grateful that the unique arbitrator and the appeals panel agreed with Mr. Dunn that he had been wrongfully terminated,” Hutcher mentioned. “We look ahead to the award being confirmed within the Supreme Court docket in order that we are able to implement this judgment.”CBS maintains it stands by the findings of its investigation and the ensuing selections. “We’re grateful for the numerous voices who spoke up in a course of that led to vital cultural change at our tv stations,” the corporate added.
