Charter agrees to settle NY1 age-and-gender discrimination lawsuit

STAMFORD — Five female journalists, who last year filed a lawsuit accusing Charter Communications’ Spectrum News NY1 cable news channel of discriminating against women older than 40, announced last week that they had settled the complaint and were leaving the broadcaster.

The plaintiffs and their attorneys said they were unable to provide specifics about the lawsuit’s “confidential resolution,” but they released statements explaining why they had reached the agreement. Stamford-based Charter is one of the country’s largest cable, internet and phone providers through its Spectrumbranded services.

“After engaging in a lengthy dialogue with NY1, we believe it is in everyone’s interest — ours, NY1’s and our viewers — that this litigation be resolved and we have mutually agreed to part ways,” the plaintiffs said in their statement Thursday. “We want to thank everyone who has supported us through these times. Please know that the support from each and every person has made a real difference.”

In response, Charter released a statement that said it was “pleased” to have reached the settlement. Like the plaintiffs, it declined to disclose the terms.

“We want to thank them for

their years of dedicated service in reporting the news for New Yorkers, and we wish them well in their future endeavors,” the company said in the statement.

Charter, which took over NY1 through its $55 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable in 2016, had denied the allegations.

All of the plaintiffs are older than 40. When the lawsuit was filed in June 2019, Roma Torre was 61 and had worked at NY1 for 27 years; Kristen Shaughnessy was 50 and had worked at NY1 for 24 years; Jeanine Ramirez was 49 and had worked at NY1 for 23 years; Vivian Lee was 44 and had worked at NY1 for 11 years; and Amanda Farinacci was 40 and been affiliated with NY1 for 19 years.

“Women on TV should accurately reflect women in society and be celebrated at every age, not treated like decoration that can be disposed and replaced with a newer version,” the plaintiffs said in a statement when they filed the lawsuit. “We have poured our hearts and souls into our work at NY1, but in the end we have been left excluded, marginalized and vulnerable.

“We are fighting for ourselves and all other women who face this same struggle on a daily basis, and we hope to send a clear message to all news media across the country that this must change,” their statement said.

Charter officials had responded that NY1 valued gender and age diversity. Among NY1’s on-air talent, 57 percent were women, 55 percent were older than 40, and 25 percent are women older than 40, according to data that the company provided last year.

The plaintiffs hired Wigdor LLP, a Manhattan-based law firm known for representing clients in high-profile gender-discrimination cases.

“It has been a true privilege to represent Ms. Torre, Ms. Shaughnessy, Ms. Ramirez, Ms. Lee and Ms. Farinacci who have cumulatively been on air at NY1 for more than 100 years,” Wigdor partners Douglas Wigdor and David Gottlieb said in a statement. “We thank of all of the many people who supported their cause and we thank the many fans who tuned in to watch them fairly and accurately report the news for so many years.”

Among other cases, Wigdor represented Lauren Bonner, a former executive at Stamford-based hedge fund Point72 Asset Management in a gender-discrimination complaint filed in February 2018. Her lawsuit was settled in September.

Point 72 denied Bonner’s allegations. The firm’s founder and head, Steven Cohen, who is also the new owner of the New York Mets, was named as a defendant in the complaint but not personally accused of misconduct.