A civil claim that former CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose retaliated against three women who complained about his alleged sexual harassment has been dismissed.
New York Supreme Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohan said that while Rose may have disparaged the women — calling one a “f—ing idiot” and another a “f—ing kindergartner” — that does not constitute retaliation under the New York City Human Rights Law.
The plaintiffs can still pursue claims of discrimination and retaliation against Rose. The court papers can be viewed here.
CBS News previously reached an undisclosed settlement with the three women who accused Rose of sexual harassment.
Katherine Brooks Harris, Chelsea Wei and Sydney McNeal worked with Rose starting in 2016. Brooks Harris and Wei were staffers at CBS This Morning, which Rose co-hosted, and McNeal was an assistant to Rose at PBS, where he hosted an eponymous program.
The trio, all of whom are in their 20s, sued against CBS and Rose in May in the New York Supreme Court, claiming sexual harassment and retailiation. According to the suit, they were assigned jobs where they were “were required to spend a substantial amount of time working with Mr. Rose,” who is in his mid-70s. The suit says he “subjected Plaintiffs to repeated, ongoing and unlawful physical and verbal sexual harassment, including without limitation: (a) sexual touching; (b) sexual comments; and (c) sexual advances.”
PBS canceled Charlie Rose and CBS fired him from the morning show in November 2017, one day after the allegations surfaced against him.
Dominic Patten contributed to this report.