Joan Lunden is reporting on her own story.
In her new memoir, “Joan: Life Beyond the Script,” out Tuesday, Lunden reveals that her former boss at New York’s WABC-TV “Eyewitness News” propositioned her, then retaliated against her after she denied his advances. Lunden joined “Eyewitness News” in 1975, anchoring their weekend news segment.
Lunden’s colleague, whom she refers to as “Ted” in the book, would help her edit stories. Ted invited her to Fire Island under the guise of a work get-together.
“‘You should come along, Joan,’ said Ted. ‘It will be a good opportunity for you to socialize with the rest of the team,’” Lunden writes. “Not having any close friendships in the newsroom, I was concerned that I would feel awkward and uncomfortable, like a tagalong. With some encouragement, I agreed to go.”
However, when she arrived on Fire Island, she realized this was not a work retreat, but a double date. The only other colleague was a WCBS-TV reporter and his girlfriend.
“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,” Lunden writes. “I was also scared because it felt like there was no way out. It was evening and the sky was getting darker by the minute. You can’t just walk outside a home on Fire Island and hail a cab to take you back to your apartment.”
When she confronted Ted about his actions, he claimed the “original plan fell through,” but they should “just enjoy ourselves.” Lunden alleges Ted pressured her to sleep in the bed with him, but she refused and spent the night on the couch and left the next morning.
When she returned to work that Monday, Lunden thought Ted’s attitude toward her had shifted.
“I was about to find out that hell hath no fury like a man scorned,” Lunden wrote. “Ted started killing my stories — meaning he kept my stories from making the show lineup for one reason or another … I felt vulnerable and helpless.”
Lunden also believed that her reputation was affected, since her colleagues knew she went on an overnight trip with a supervisor, and fewer of her stories were making it to air. Lunden explained that this impacted her income because she was paid an additional bonus for each story that aired.
“But 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,” Lunden wrote. “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.”
After Ted’s behavior persisted for a “couple of months,” Lunden spoke to her agent and her lawyer, who advised her to sue Ted and WABC for sexual harassment and discrimination. She invited Ted to her office, where she threatened legal action and told him, “This has to stop. Now. I’m not putting up with it another day.”
“I could see by the look on his face that my punch had landed,” Lunden wrote. “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.”
WABC-TV did not respond to a request for comment.
Lunden went on to join ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 1976 and co-anchored the show from 1980 to 1997. At “GMA,” Lunden negotiated her contract to have child-care provisions provided, including a designated space to breastfeed her daughter on set, and advocated for discussing motherhood in the workplace.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com ’
