Judge dismisses sexual assault lawsuit against former ‘Good Morning America’ boss Michael Corn
By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business
A New York State judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed last year against Michael Corn, the former “Good Morning America” boss who was accused of sexual assault in a case that rocked ABC News and left staffers up in arms.
Judge Barbara Jaffe ruled that the statute of limitations for the alleged 2015 assault against “Good Morning America” producer Kirstyn Crawford had expired.
The alleged assault, which Corn had always denied, could have been considered by the court had Crawford sufficiently alleged that Corn created a hostile work environment.
But Jaffe ruled that while some of Corn’s alleged conduct was “boorish, ill-advised, and inappropriate,” it did not meet the threshold to state a claim that he had fostered a hostile work environment prior to the limitations period expiring.
Meredith Cavallaro, an attorney representing Corn, said in a statement, “We are very pleased the Court acknowledged the complete lack of merit to the claims asserted against Mr. Corn.”
Milt Williams, an attorney representing Crawford, said that they planned to appeal the case.
ABC News had previously said it disputed some of the claims in the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the company, however, did not have a comment about the case against Corn being dismissed.
But Kim Godwin, the president of ABC News, addressed the matter during the company’s morning editorial meeting on Thursday, according to two staffers who were on the phone call. Godwin reiterated to staffers her commitment to implement a healthy culture at the company, the people said.
“We remain committed to changing the culture here,” Godwin said, according to one of the people.
Godwin started as ABC News president after Corn had already departed the company.
Corn, who now serves as the president of news for NewsNation, inexplicably left ABC News in early 2021, months before the lawsuit became public.
When the lawsuit did become public, staffers at ABC News were angry, confused, and demanding answers. Staffers, for instance, wondered what ABC News management knew when Corn mysteriously departed the news outlet.
ABC News later said in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that it had fired Corn after investigating the assault accusations against him.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified when Kim Godwin was named as ABC News president in relation to Corn’s departure. It was the day before.
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