Longtime Good Morning America host Joan Lunden has alleged that a former boss sexually harassed her during her time working at New York news station WABC.
The 75-year-old journalist, best known for co-anchoring the ABC morning show from 1980 to 1997, writes about the alleged incident in her new memoir Joan: Life Beyond the Script.
Lunden was hired by WABC in 1975 when she was 25 and worked there until 1980. As USA Today reports, she writes in her book that a during this time a superior invited her to a work social event on Fire Island, saying it would be a “good opportunity for you to socialize with the rest of the team.”
However, when she arrived with her boss she realized that there were only two other people on the trip — a WCBS reporter and his girlfriend, so the event was really more of an “overnight double date.”
Lunden writes: “I was embarrassed that I’d been so naive as to let this situation unfold, and I was offended as a woman that a guy — my superior at work — thought he could get away with this! He assumed that I would just go along with it.”
She does not identify who her boss was, using “Ted” as a pseudonym. She recalls telling him: “Ted, you know this is not what I signed up for” and that she was “trying to be strong but not too offensive, since he was my boss.”
Lunden writes that he attempted to charm her, but that she decided to sleep on the couch rather than share a bed. After returning from the trip, she alleges that her boss began “killing” her stories to prevent them getting on air, which affected how much she was paid.
She continues: “Even more disturbing than the loss of pay was having to put up with his attitude and what it said to me and other women who only wanted to work as equals. His behavior clearly sent the message that women were not equal to men, and that when I'd refused his overtures, he was free to seek revenge. This was clearly sexual harassment and sexual discrimination.”
Lunden added that after consulting her agent and a lawyer, she was advised that she could sue for sexual harassment and discrimination. After telling her superior about the potential for legal action, she says he apologized.
“I could see by the look on his face that my punch had landed,” writes Lunden. “He walked out, and we both went back to work. Sometimes, you just have to put on your big-girl pants and stand up for yourself, even if it feels incredibly uncomfortable and scary.”
The Independent has approached ABC for comment.
