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More details of Melissa’s lawsuit . Based on this it sounds like Randy Meisner can sue the estate of Glenn Frey and the Eagles for Frey telling him to get his fucking ass out there and quit being a pussy and sing Take it to the Limit even though he didn’t want to, 40 years ago
Details of McGurren’s allegations emerged in an amended defamation lawsuit that another former WTMX employee, Cynthia DeNicolo, filed last week against the owner of the station, Hubbard Radio Chicago. DeNicolo has also separately sued Ferguson, alleging he coerced DeNicolo into sexual acts.
The amended defamation suit against Hubbard includes details of McGurren’s ongoing efforts to seek compensation through the EEOC complaint and an arbitration process. McGurren’s complaints were added to the suit as evidence that station management ignored Ferguson’s alleged behavior.
Besides allegations of a hostile work environment, defamation and infliction of emotional distress, McGurren contended she was “intentionally paid less than men in similar or comparable positions.”
Attorneys for Ferguson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Jeff England, vice president and market manager for Hubbard Chicago, said in an emailed statement: “We swiftly investigated these claims when they first came to our attention, and we are continuing to evaluate the situation and new information as it develops.”
In her EEOC complaint, McGurren said she complained dozens of times to station program directors about Ferguson. For years, the complaint alleges, Ferguson made insulting comments about her appearance, on air and in front of co-workers, including telling her what to wear. McGurren alleged Ferguson’s comments often were gender based, such as harassing her when she used the bathroom at work or accusing her of having hot flashes “in a demeaning and condescending tone.”
The EEOC complaint states Ferguson coerced McGurren in April 2011 into wearing a bikini and getting a spray tan at work — a video of which was posted on social media. “The coercion was that if I did not do what Ferguson was commanding, I risked losing my job,” McGurren wrote. “I succumbed to his pressure, and because of the social media post, I received many unwanted sexual comments from men on social media.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote, she worked in a space with a window separating her from Ferguson, because of her asthma and other medical issues. He so harassed her about the setup that in June 2020 she went back into the studio with him, “even though I felt very unsafe doing so,” her complaint alleges.
Her EEOC complaint also said Ferguson would “frequently and inappropriately touch many younger female employees, or sometimes younger female listeners, at company events in Chicago or abroad in Mexico during company retreats.”
McGurren said she frequently complained to management about Ferguson’s “terrible behavior.” According to a Nov. 24, 2020, email she sent to human resources included in the amended lawsuit, she wrote: “I’ve been mentally and verbally abused, harassed, put into tears, yelled at, belittled, ignored, mocked and my job has been threatened multiple times.”
The EEOC granted McGurren the right to sue, but as part of her employment agreement with Hubbard she had agreed to first try to settle disputes and claims through arbitration.
McGurren’s abrupt departure from the airwaves stunned her fans. In her only public comment at the time, McGurren said on social media “the truth will come out. I’ve always wanted to work at the Mix, and this is not how I saw things coming.” She recently landed a job as a morning show co-host at the Audacy station WUSN-FM 99.5.
When McGurren left, WTMX said in a public statement it was surprised and disappointed the former co-host of “Eric in the Morning with Melissa and Whip” declined a contract extension following more than two decades at The Mix.
In her arbitration complaint, McGurren alleged those comments were an attempt to paint her in a false light and were made “with the intent of continuing to cover-up Ferguson’s serial harassment and the station’s tacit approval” of the alleged conduct.
McGurren is the third female former employee of The Mix to come forward to say Ferguson engaged in inappropriate conduct.
Radio host Eric Ferguson and former WTMX assistant producer Cynthia Skolak, now Cynthia DeNicolo, at the station's studio in August 2004.
Radio host Eric Ferguson and former WTMX assistant producer Cynthia Skolak, now Cynthia DeNicolo, at the station's studio in August 2004. (Michael Walker/for the Chicago Tribune)
DeNicolo, a former assistant producer of “Eric in the Morning,” alleged in her lawsuit against Ferguson that he coerced sexual favors from her in 2004, then retaliated against her for years after she put a stop to it. She was laid off in May 2020 after maintaining the same position as assistant producer throughout her 20-year career at The Mix.
DeNicolo later filed a separate suit against Hubbard, contending the company made defamatory statements to its employees and the media after the Tribune and other media reported last week that she had sued Ferguson in May.
In a court filing later added to the defamation suit, a former WTMX sales employee alleged Ferguson groped her at a station Christmas party in full view of her husband and co-workers in 2003. The woman, Kristen Mori of Ohio, said in a written declaration that she was “shocked and disturbed by Ferguson’s offensive touching” and alleged management “turned a blind eye towards (his) inappropriate and offensive conduct” because of the revenue generated by his popular morning show.
Like DeNicolo, Mori said in her declaration that she did not report the alleged behavior to management for fear of losing her job. Mori did not file a lawsuit.
Attorneys for Ferguson have denied DeNicolo’s allegations against him and filed a motion to dismiss her suit. Ferguson “emphatically denies the existence of a sexual relationship” with DeNicolo “as well as engaging in the other conduct alleged in the complaint,” his lawyers said in their motion.
Ferguson has not otherwise responded to requests for comment.
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It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.
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