ABC and Good Morning America has a lawsuit on their hands. Deadline reports that a GMA staffer has filed a new claim against the network, claiming the network retaliated against her after she filed a sexual assault lawsuit implicating a top producer. Kirstyn Crawford (staffer) amended her original filing on Wednesday, September 15. In the amended suit, Crawford claims the retaliation came in the form of the network “not offering her the job security and salary increase that she deserved.”
In Crawford’s initial filing, filed she accused Michael Corn, a head producer of GMA, of sexually assaulting her during a trip to LA in 2015. Crawford claims that the crew was in town to report on the Academy Awards. Corn maintains his innocent, calling Crawford’s allegations “demonstrably false.” He quit GMA in the wake of the scandal in April and now works as the president of Nexstar’s NewsNation.
Crawford claims that ABC has delayed talks about renewing her contract since Crawford filed her amended suit. “It was not until July 2021, approximately four months after Crawford made the formal complaint, and just one month before her 2018 contract was set to expire, that ABC reached out to Crawford about her expiring contract,” Crawford’s lawsuit states that in part. “Instead of offering Crawford another three-year contract, ABC merely offered a six-month extension and did not even offer a nominal salary increase.”
Crawford states that ABC network executives were aware of the 2015 sexual assault but decided not to sue Corn. The network released a statement denying Crawford’s claims and saying that they will allow the matter to be dealt with in court. The official amended suit can be found in its entirety via public records.