By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A federal jury on Thursday took less than an hour to toss former NY1 reporter Adele Sammarco’s sexual harassment suit against the network.
The panel of seven men and one woman took 41 minutes to reach the verdict after a two-week trial that dragged the Meatpacking District news organization's dirty laundry into the spotlight, the New York Post reported.
Sammarco, 43, claimed she was the victim of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, and that she was unfairly fired in 2001 after repeatedly complaining about her alleged treatment. The former anchorwoman’s evidence included a mock photo of her with enlarged breasts, which was allegedly passed around among coworkers.
"I truly feel I was wronged," Sammarco told the Daily News, after the verdict in Brooklyn federal court. "They know what they did. I am one woman up against a corporate entity.”
One juror said there wasn’t enough evidence to decide in Sammarco’s favor.
"We felt that the evidence just didn't support the claim," juror, Marie Gorini, 55, told the Post. "We just felt there wasn't enough evidence to prove for the plaintiff."
NY1 said Sammarco was an underpreforming reporter. Their defense attorney, Bettina Plevan, argued that on-air talent had their contracts renewed only “if they had ability and talent.”
Sammarco’s attorney, Andrew Laufer, said in his closing testimony that all the witnesses called by the defense were current NY1 employees and therefore had a stake in seeing her lose the case.
"They get their paycheck from New York 1," said Laufer. "I thought the news industry was supposed to expose the truth — not hide from it."
