The sexual harassment lawsuit filed against former GMA executive Michael Corn last year was dismissed by a New York State judge on Wednesday. Judge Barbara Jaffe ruled that the three-year statute of limitations for the alleged 2015 assault by Corn against GMA producer Kirstyn Crawford had expired.
Judge Jaffe said in her ruling that the incidents Crawford cites in her lawsuit didn’t measure up to sexual harassment or creating a hostile work environment. The judge said of the remarks, “while boorish, ill-advised and inappropriate, [they] do not create a hostile work environment, much less a continuing violation. Much of the conduct, moreover, was not directed at plaintiff.”
Meredith Cavallaro, an attorney representing Corn, said in a statement, “We are very pleased the Court acknowledged the complete lack of merit to the claims asserted against Mr. Corn.”
Milt Williams, a lawyer for Crawford, said that they planned to appeal the case.
In her original lawsuit, Crawford said Corn assaulted her in 2015 during a business trip to Los Angeles, and that the incidents took place in an Uber ride after a party and later at their hotel. According to Crawford, during the alleged incident, Corn claimed he could advance her career.
Crawford, who no longer works at ABC News, claimed that after the ordeal, she declined to travel with her boss and he retaliated against her as a result. She also said that after the trip, Corn created a hostile work environment at Good Morning America.
According to CNN, ABC News president Kim Godwin addressed the matter during the network’s Thursday morning editorial meeting, citing two ABC News staffers. Godwin apparently reiterated to staffers that she’s committed to implementing a healthy culture at ABC News.
Crawford’s lawsuit created some some friction last fall in the news division. Godwin asked then-Disney TV boss Peter Rice (who coincidentally was fired from Disney today) if leadership would conduct an independent investigation into how the company handled the sexual harassment allegations made against Corn. However, Rice angered some ABC News staffers when he announced that Disney was not going to follow through on Godwin’s request.
Corn, who now serves as the president of news for the Nexstar-owned cable news outlet NewsNation, left ABC News shortly before Godwin was hired as its president last April—and months before the lawsuit became public.
Corn continues to deny all sexual harassment allegations made against him.