In a lawsuit filed Friday in New York, former NBC and CNN executive Michael Bass is accused of sexually assaulting his former intern in an incident that occurred in 1996, when Bass was at NBC.
Arathi Rajaraman, the accuser who filed the lawsuit, says the assault happened when she was 20 years old and working as an intern for NBC Sports during the network’s coverage of the Atlanta Olympic Games.
According to the lawsuit, which was obtained the daily beastDuring this time, Rajaraman witnessed “a loose, unfettered culture in which married, older and more senior NBC employees regularly targeted much younger women for sexual harassment.”
The lawsuit states that the assault occurred when Bass was a coordinating producer for NBC, handling late-night coverage of the Games. He was also a producer for NBC’s “Today Show”. Rajaraman worked for Bais and along with other employees went to Atlanta for the Olympics. The lawsuit stated that NBC housed the interns in the dormitories of the University of Decatur, Georgia, several miles east of Atlanta, and required them to take public transportation at odd hours to get to work.
Rajaraman states that the attack took place on 28 July 1996, the day after the bombing of the Games by domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph. She says she was working longer hours as a result of the attack, and was invited by Bass to a late dinner and drinks with other team members, where alcohol was provided.
This went on until 5 a.m., at which time Rajaraman says he was taken to Bass’s hotel room under false pretenses—he needed to use the toilet and was led to believe that Bass’s wife and children were there. is still in Atlanta, so she accepts his offer. To use it in your hotel room. She says that at that point he surrounded her and started kissing and groping her. Eventually, she managed to escape, insisting on going back to her hotel room.
Rajaraman says he later learned that Bais had helped other interns with their careers and accused him of blackballing the New York-based media. The lawsuit states that the attack and Bass’s subsequent behavior, “led to excessive drinking, eating disorders, self-loathing, crippling romantic relationships, and even suicidal ideation.” “
“More than 20 years passed before the #metoo movement and NBC fired Matt Lauer for similar unreported misconduct, which helped [Rajaraman] With the courage, understanding and determination, in 2020, to contact an attorney regarding the assault on her by Defendant Bass during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit named Bass and NBCUniversal as defendants. Rajaraman is demanding a jury trial and whatever damages the jury deems fit. Read full lawsuit here,
Representatives for Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.