A lawsuit has been filed against Charlie Rose by three women who worked with the disgraced anchor at CBS.
Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal and Chelsea Wei previously shared their claims with The Washington Post in an expose that was published on Friday, but the complaint filed by their attorney Ken Goldberg goes deeper into their allegations against Rose and CBS.
The complaint, which was filed Friday afternoon in New York Supreme Court, also reveals that Rose continued to contact the women who had accused him of sexual harassment by both phone and on email after he was fired by CBS.
‘For example, on or about November 24, 2017, Mr. Rose sent an e-mail to Ms. Wei stating, among other items, “my relationship with you is the man I am in all my relationships,”‘ states the court filing.
The complaint also claims that Rose told his staff ‘words to the effect of “some of the stories are true”‘ after the first expose was published by The Washington Post.
All three women, who were in their early twenties when these alleged incidents occurred, allege that Rose would constantly kiss female staffers, caress their thighs, waist, arms and legs, and showed a keen interest in having them detail their sex lives.
Bad day: Charlie Rose (above in November) is being sued by three former employees who worked with the disgraced host at CBS News
Plantiffs: The women – Brooks Harris (left), Sydney McNeal (right) and Chelsea Wei – were all in their early 20s when the alleged incidents occurred with Rose, who is 76
The three women are asking that they be awarded consequential, compensatory and punitive damages from Rose, CBS News Communications and CBS News.
This relief is sought one count of discrimination and harassment and a second count of retaliation.
One section of the complaint provides 14 examples of what the three women claim is ‘unlawful conduct’ by Rose.
‘Mr. Rose repeatedly sexually touched Plaintiffs, including without limitation caressing and touching their arms, shoulders, waist and back, pulling them close to his body, and kissing them on the cheek,’ reads one example.
Two of the plaintiffs (McNeal and Harris) also accuse Rose of ‘placing his hands on her thigh and kissing her cheek’ while dining out with the host.
‘Mr. Rose repeatedly boasted of his sexual conquests, telling Plaintiffs words to the effect of “you should have seen the women that I was with when I was younger,”‘ reads another example stated in the complaint.
‘Mr. Rose suggested to Ms. Harris and Ms. McNeal that they have sex with each other and told them words to the effect of, “You just need to become lovers already,” indicating that he was having sexual fantasies about them.’
Wei meanwhile was allegedly referred to as ‘China Girl’ by Rose according to court papers, in which the young woman also says Rose ‘caressed [her] arms when she handed him papers and would say “I love the way you do that.”‘
The three women also share alleged instances of verbal abuse involving Rose in the complaint.
‘I didn’t know that I hired a f***ing kindergartner,’ Rose allegedly told Harris at one point.
McNeal claims Rose told her ‘you can’t be a f***ing idiot and have this job.’
And Wei was allegedly called a ‘f***ing idiot’ for booking a flight on a plane that did not have flat folding seats despite claiming she had informed Rose of this fact.
Harris claims that Rose began showing an interest in her after she began working the early morning shift at CBS News.
She says that Rose began taking her to expensive lunches where he would wine and dine her before eventually offering her a spot on 60 Minutes.
At the same time, Wei said that she became nervous about these lunches, and decided to speak with her boss, CBS This Morning’s executive producer Ryan Kadro.
‘I’m telling you in case you have a lawsuit on your hand,’ Wei said she told Kadro at the time.
Kadro, who is still the executive producer of CBS This Morning, downplayed these claims when reached for comment by the Post.
‘Ms. Wei did not tell me about inappropriate behavior by Charlie Rose towards Ms. Harris at any time,’ said Kadro.
He also stated that he had no recollection of the word ‘lawsuit’ being used by Wei.
Harris was eventually given a job on Rose’s PBS show, and soon after she began the new position Rose began to make comments about her and another female employee, McNeal.
Rose once suggested the two have sex according to both women, and made a comment about them swimming naked in his pool.
McNeal said that working for Rose was ‘toxic,’ adding that her job ‘made me question my intelligence, dignity and worth as a human being almost every day.’
Harris also that just this past July she was out getting drinks with Rose at Cirpirani following an event when he repeatedly tried to get her to come up to his apartment, an offer she declined by making up an excuse to leave.
Denial: CBS did not respond to a request for comment and Rose has called the allegations made by these women and 24 other ‘unfair’ and ‘inaccurate’ (Rose and CBS THis Morning executive producer Ryan Kadro above)
Gone quiet: Rose’s longtime producer Yvette Vega (above) has not been heard from in the months since the first allegations were published in the Post
She lost her job four months later when the first allegations against Rose came out, a job that she claims Kadro urged her to take at the time.
The complaint filled on Friday states: ‘Ms. Harris advised Mr. Kadro of Rose’s offer.
‘Upon information and belief, Mr. Kadro knew that Mr. Rose had a history of sexual harassment, but did not warn Ms. Harris about him.
‘Instead, Mr. Kadro encouraged Ms. Harris to accept Rose’s offer.’
Harris and McNeal were both left without a job in the wake of the allegations against Rose, while Wei is still employed at CBS.
She claims that the environment there has been hostile though ever since she shared her story with human resources back in November.
‘On or about November 30, 2017, Ms. Wei filed a complaint with Ms. Cottone (Human Resources, CBS) against Mr. Rose and Mr. Kadro,’ states the complaint.
Wei claims that nothing came of the complaint, and she subsequently began to be placed in a series of jobs that were beneath her abilities and experience.
The complaint states that Wei’s health began to deteriorate because of her situation at CBS, and that on March 1 she was forced to take a leave of absence for medical reasons.
Wei and Harris were also allegedly contacted by CBS in mid-March.
‘Upon information and belief, CBS did so to deter Plaintiffs from pursuing claims,’ reads the filing.
‘Upon information and belief, at various other times, CBS: (a) discriminated against and harassed other female employees; (b) retaliated against other employees that engaged in protected activity, and (c) intimidated and/or threatened victims of discrimination and retaliation to deter them from pursuing their protected legal rights as victims.’
CBS did not respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, a frustrated and furious Gayle King addressed the news that 27 more women had come forward to accuse Charlie Rose of sexual harassment on Thursday morning.
‘Anthony, I have a very bad case of deja vu, I have to say. I feel sick to my stomach,’ said an emotional King on CBS This Morning.
‘I don’t know what to say about this. When the story first broke, I said Charlie was my friend. I still consider him a friend. I know that’s probably not the politically correct thing to say this moment.’
King also took time to defend her friendship with Rose.
‘l don’t believe in abandoning people when they’re down. But that said this is very troubling and concerning and now I can’t discount what people are saying,’ said King.
‘This is what I know. I don’t know what more we can do to Charlie Rose except a public flogging. He’s gone. He’s not coming back to CBS News, Norah O’Donnell, John Dickerson and I are the new team. We are working very hard here.’
She continued: ‘I know we bring a quality newscast surrounded by a quality team. All we can do is do the best possible job we can. You see these allegations, you hear the stories, and it just makes you sick all over the again. I don’t know what to do.’
The news of Rose’s firing was revealed last November in an interview memo sent to staffers by CBS News president David Rhodes, who stated that ‘there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace.’
Rhodes also said: ‘I’ve also heard that things used to be different. And no one can change the past.
‘But what may once have been accepted should not ever have been acceptable.’
Rhodes went on to explain the reason behind the network’s decision.
‘CBS News has reported on extraordinary revelations at other media companies this year and last,’ said Rhodes.
‘Our credibility in that reporting requires credibility managing basic standards of behavior. That is why we have taken these actions.’
Hardwork: Rose is seen interviewing Steve Bannon in one of his last 60 Minutes pieces for CBS this past September (above)
Rose was initially suspended from the network when the Post first published the accounts of eight women who claimed they were sexually harassed or assaulted by the journalist. That was followed by additional allegations from five other women.
By the end of that week the number had grown to 17 women and Rose was out of a job.
He is now being accused of sexual harassment by an additional 27 women.
Of those women, 14 worked with Rose at CBS News while the other 13 were involved in the production of his longform talk show on PBS.
The women claims that Rose exposed himself to them, groped their buttocks and breasts and in one case asked that a young woman ‘ride him’ in his hotel room.
A number of women also claim that they told executives at CBS about his behavior, including Chris Licht (the former executive producer of CBS This Morning) and Ryan Kadro (the current executive producer of CBS This Morning).
Rose responded to the new allegations by saying: ‘Your story is unfair and inaccurate.’