Now this might look like a boomerang. CBS, an aggressive network in covering sexual-abuse charges against the Catholic Church and Penn State, is now being accused just the same.
Former CBS employee Kenneth Lombardi, 29, who quit the network last November, is suing CBS claiming sexual harassment. The New York Post reports he claims he “was repeatedly drunkenly groped and kissed by powerful men at the network — including the director for the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.”
“I have symptoms of PTSD from this,” Lombardi told the Post on Thursday, comparing CBS to “the Catholic Church or Penn State” for allegedly sweeping his complaints under the rug. Where have we heard that charge before?
“I have nightmares. I relive these moments every day. The sound of ice in a glass will take me back to that moment,” he said, referring to what he described as a terrifying barroom encounter with Albert “Chip” Colley, who directs the popular and award-winning Pelley newscast....
[T]he self-described bisexual started fearing for not only his employment, but his safety — after Colley and another male higher-up put the moves on him at boozy office functions, his Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit alleges.
Lombardi claims he made a ten-minute highlight reel of his celebrity interviews and asked Colley for feedback. He says Colley suggested they meet at a gay bar called Hardware in Hell’s Kitchen, to discuss, and when he arrived, Colley was intoxicated.
The conversation quickly turned X-rated. Grilled by Colley about his orientation, Lombardi reluctantly revealed he was bisexual.
“Colley told [Lombardi] that he did not really believe being ‘bisexual’ was real and told Plaintiff that he was actually completely gay,” the suit says.
The evening devolved from there, with Colley allegedly urging drinks on the younger man while rubbing his thigh, texting him porn site links and asking what he thought about when he watched porn videos, the suit says.
“He was sending me porn on my phone while he was talking about my career,” Lombardi said in a phone interview.
“I just turned 28 at time, Chip was in his mid- to late 50s, had been in the business for at least 30 years — he’s heavily connected — and he was running Scott Pelley ‘s news show,” Lombardi said. “I was terrified.”
Lombardi “started having an anxiety attack,” fled to the bathroom, and called his mom, begging for help, his suit says. Then he snuck out of the club.
“I have text messages and e-mails,” Lombardi told The Post. “While I was being attacked by Chip, I was texting my brother, ‘Oh my God, I’m about to be raped. Please, God, help me,’” he said. “It’s painful to even look at them again.”
Doesn’t this sound like an interesting episode of 48 Hours? This is the grist of plenty of ratings-grabbing CBS News stories. It's more fun when the target of the accusations is suspected of having traditional/puritanical sexual morality. Somehow, accusations of gay bullying are not as newsworthy....when it's a news outlet that runs "CBS News cares" promos against gay bullying? (Or that was just opposed to "anti-gay bullying.")
Lombardi’s suit claims Colley kept up the unwanted attention in the hallways of the network’s offices in Manhattan.
He also accuses Duane Tollison, a then-senior producer at CBS Radio, of getting drunk and handsy with Lombardi at the 2013 CBS holiday party at Stone Rose Lounge in the Time Warner Center. Tollison, now working for "Today in New York" at WNBC-TV - allegedly sidled up to Lombardi, drunk.
Tollison, "slid his hand down Plaintiff Lombardi's pants and grabbed Plaintiff's penis and testicles," the suit says.
"Plaintiff pushed him away and asked Defendant to stop. Plaintiff Lombardi was horrified," the suit says. "Defendant Tollison then began to kiss Plaintiff's neck and grab Plaintiff's body."
When his protests fell on drunk ears, Lombardi again just ran away in horror, grabbing his coat and leaving the party, the suit says.
Like other sexual assault stories, Lombardi says CBS human-resources officials stonewalled his cries for help. But just like other stories, CBS is denying it strongly.
“While CBS takes all allegations of workplace misconduct seriously, we believe Mr. Lombardi’s claims are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend this lawsuit,” a network spokeswoman said.
Let’s guess which media outlets won’t be covering this lawsuit heavily? Besides CBS, bet on ABC, NBC, and everyone else in network television. Nobody expects TV people to act like a priest, or a football coach. They’re not people you expect to have high morals or speak honestly, right?
