Ex-Editor, NY Post Settle Discrimination Suit: Reports

New York City NY

27 April, 2022

1:37 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — A bombshell discrimination case against the New York Post involving accusations of sexual harassment against its former editor-in-chief ended with a settlement, according to reports. The Post and former top editor Michelle Gotthelf announced they "amicably resolved" her lawsuit against the paper and its former editor-in-chief Col Allan, the New York Times reported. No settlement terms were disclosed, the Times reported. The settlement appears to end a story that otherwise could have made the New York Post's front page: a brash boss at a high-profile media company accused of sexual harassment, among other ugliness, by a former top employee who said she was fired after she complained. Gotthelf's lawsuit filed in January details years of abuse and then sexual harassment she claimed Allan committed. It also detailed accusations that Allan cultivated a climate of sexism, misogny and bigotry. "Mr. Allan, delighted in degrading Ms. Gotthelf, and women generally, in front of her mostly male peers," the complaint states. "For example, Mr. Allan would refer to women in news stories as 'skanks' or 'stupid women.' He described a female NY Post editor as a 'sneaky lesbian.' He likewise told Ms. Gotthelf that Mr. Murdoch 'doesn't like many women.'" Allan didn't stop with abuse, according to the lawsuit. He peppered Gotthelf with sexual questions in a private meeting in 2015, according to the lawsuit. "We should sleep together," Allan told Gotthelf, the lawsuit states. Gotthelf's subsequent complaint led to Allan's nominal "retirement," which billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced to the newsroom in a praise-filled speech, the complaint states. Allan then returned as a "consultant" in 2019 and gave Gotthelf instructions to "get rid of" a story reporting rape accusations against former president Donald Trump, according to the complaint. Gotthelf saw herself effectively demoted before she was fired, according to the complaint.