Do you remember that back in 2017, NBC’s Today show host, Matt Lauer, was fired out of the blue? Well, it turns out that wasn’t without any reason. See, a woman has come up, a co-anchor, who has allegedly said that it was Lauer who sexually harassed her so many times. And as per the details of this Matt Lauer Lawsuit, NBC has already looked into this case and then fired Matt Lauer, and then they went on to make many changes to their work environment and introduced many programs as well.
The First Complaint and His Firing
This is the sequence of events that led to his dismissal. On November 27, 2017, Mr. Ari Wilkenfeld, a lawyer, took an NBC staff member to meet the Human Resources and Legal divisions at the company. They went over her accusation in detail. By then, an internal probe had already been set in motion by NBC. So, the decision was made one day after the internal investigation, and on November 29, Matt Lauer got the sack without any signs or farewell.
According to NBC, the description of “inappropriate sexual behavior” was a violation of the company’s policies cited in the complaint. Apart from this, the higher-ups suggested that they knew of other similar occurrences that had not yet been revealed. Lauer, though, maintained that it was a mutual agreement.
The Sochi Olympics Incident
The story is that the female involved is Brooke Nevils, a worker at NBC who collaborated with Lauer during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book Catch and Kill calls extensively on Brooke’s testimony to describe the situation as she was having a party with some co-workers, and Lauer was there. Later, she states that she was in his hotel room twice, and on the second time, they say that an assault took place.
Brooke mentioned that Lauer shoved her down on the bed, compelled her to have anal sex, and in spite of her “no” protests, several times. She alleged that she was intoxicated so that she couldn’t give her consent and recounted being ashamed and scared at the time afterward. However, Lauer acknowledged the sex event but maintained that consent was complete. He went on to say that it was not forced in any way.
What Happened to Brooke Nevils After
Once Brooke had made her accusations, her life changed dramatically for the worse. As a result of the stress, she was on medical leave from NBC in 2018. It was reported that she also got a net total of over a million dollars from the company as a severance package. In addition, the contract was rumored to have contained a “mutually beneficial” parting message with respect to her stay at NBC, which, however, caused some controversy because of the comments made.
According to Brooke, she was silent for a long time as she was scared of Lauer’s influence within the company.
NBC’s Internal Investigation
In the year 2018, NBC decided to go through a thorough internal review of the process of handling the case. The review recognized the women’s versions as ‘reliable’ and at the same time indicated that, according to the knowledge of the human resources and management, Lauer’s activities were a surprise. The company went on to say that a cultural issue beyond this situation was not detectable, but they also acknowledged that Lauer’s sexual humor and improper behavior may have caused people to feel that he could not be reported.
Next, NBC rolled out fresh work environment training courses, revised their harassment policy updates, and implemented more rigorous reporting systems. They essentially vowed to improve their future actions.
