Lawsuit claims Bloomberg forced out exec who saw harassment

Bloomberg LP allegedly forced out a top executive who claimed she witnessed the sexual harassment of a younger employee as the media giant sought to “protect” itself from scandal, reports Kevin Dugan of the New York Post.

Dugan reports, “Johnna Ayres, a former global head of acquisitions and consumer marketing, claims in the suit that she was a ‘witness’ to the alleged sexual harassment of an unnamed woman by Nick Ferris, a former Bloomberg newsletter manager. The former marketing executive resigned in October 2016 after allegedly ‘being targeted for termination because she complained about Ferris’ illegal financial practices.’

“Allegations in the $5 million civil suit, filed on Thursday in Brooklyn state court, are linked to accusations in a two-year-old lawsuit that the unnamed woman has filed against Bloomberg LP and Ferris.

“In the still-pending 2016 civil suit, the woman, identified in court papers only as Margaret Doe, claimed Ferris, her boss at the time, raped her twice, allegedly supplied her with drugs, and allegedly threatened her employment if she didn’t continue to see him.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.