Emmis Faces Sexual Harassment Suit From Former Indianapolis Staffer

Suit

EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS CORP. is being sued by a former Digital Content Manager at its INDIANAPOLIS cluster over sexual harassment claims.  

KRISTINE ESSER SLENTZ filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of INDIANA (INDIANAPOLIS Division) on SEPTEMBER 28th, alleging that she was harassed by Sports WFNI-A (1070 THE FAN)/INDIANAPOLIS producer TONY DONAHUE over an article she had written for the HUFFINGTON POST about bisexuality, including jokes and comments to the rest of the staff and complaints about her work, and after she complained to her supervisor, then-EMMIS MARKETING GROUP Director LARRY DOWNES, DONAHUE was reprimanded; however, after DOWNES was laid off in MAY 2015, DONAHUE resumed his complaints about SLENTZ' work performance, allegedly calling her “stupid” and a “bitch.”  Complaints to HR representative BROOKE GROSS, the suit alleges, resulted in a warning to DONAHUE but "he was not written up."

At the 2015 INDIANAPOLIS 500, SLENTZ alleges, another FAN producer, KYLE KNEZEVICH, "made sexual advances" toward her, knowing she was in a long-term relationship but saying "he would" and calling her "really sexy."  After being spurned, the suit says, KNEZEVICH began complaining about SLENTZ' work performance, leading her to complain to her supervisor JORDYN BYINGTON.  SLENTZ left at the end of 2015 and says that the harassment continued throughout her final year at THE FAN.

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