As ABC News deals with the fallout of a lawsuit accusing a former “Good Morning America” executive producer of sexual assault, the president of the news division wants an outside investigator to lead the probe into the network’s handling of the allegations.
Kim Godwin, who was hired in April to take over the news operations, made the comments to ABC News staffers on a Thursday conference call. The lawsuit in question accuses former GMA EP Michael Corn of sexually assaulting a current ABC News employee and a former staffer, in separate incidents dating back to 2010. Mr. Corn has denied wrongdoing and in a statement, called the allegations “demonstrably false.”
The lawsuit also named ABC as a defendant, saying the company did not adequately respond to the complaints of alleged misconduct by Mr. Corn from several women. According to the Wall Street Journal, Godwin said the ABC News employees who were involved in handling complaints against Mr. Corn would get due process, but their role would be probed.
According to a recording of the conference call, Godwin said the following:
“We can’t have us investigating us. We need an independent person. The process has to be independent.”
CNN’s Oliver Darcy writes, “Staffers are angry, confused, and demanding answers… As one source put it to me, There is a lot of anger and confusion and people wanting to understand what happened.”
Godwin, who is the first black woman to head a network news division, took questions from employees during a conference call on Thursday. Some questioned why they learned about the lawsuit from the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story. Godwin’s reply, according to CNN’s report, was because the allegations were made in a lawsuit.
ABC News meanwhile, issued a statement on Wednesday.
“We are committed to upholding a safe and supportive work environment and have a process in place that thoroughly reviews and addresses complaints that are made. ABC News disputes the claims made against it and will address this matter in court.”
As for Corn, he suddenly quit GMA earlier this year, with little explanation given for his departure. He’s currently the Head of News for Nexstar’s “NewsNation” franchise. The company said it will not comment on allegations related to Corn’s previous employment.