Second woman alleges inappropriate behavior by Eric Ferguson of The Mix radio
A second female former employee of WTMX-FM has come forward to say longtime on-air host Eric Ferguson engaged in sexually inappropriate conduct, alleging in a Thursday court filing that he groped her at the station’s Christmas party in full view of her husband and co-workers in 2003.
The woman, Kristen Mori of Ohio, a former sales employee who left the station in 2004, said in the filing she was “shocked and disturbed by Ferguson’s offensive touching” and alleged management “turned a blind eye toward (his) inappropriate and offensive conduct” because of the revenue generated by his popular morning show.
Mori’s written declaration was included as an exhibit in a defamation lawsuit that a former assistant producer on Ferguson’s show, Cynthia DeNicolo, filed Thursday against Hubbard Radio Chicago, which owns The Mix.
The new complaint is separate from an earlier suit in which DeNicolo, 43, sued Ferguson, alleging he coerced sexual favors from her for several months in 2004 until she “summoned the courage” to put an end to it. Hubbard is not named as a defendant in the first suit.
Attorneys for Ferguson, 54, have denied DeNicolo’s allegations against the host of “Eric in the Morning” on 101.9 FM. Attorney Peter Donati said Friday he was reviewing the allegations in the latest filing and could not offer immediate comment.
Hubbard Radio Chicago vice president and market manager Jeff England said Friday, “We are aware of the suit and are reviewing it.”
In DeNicolo’s earlier lawsuit against Ferguson, filed in May, she alleged he demanded she perform oral sex about twice a month in 2004 using the code words “I need a backrub.” She said in her suit that he blocked promotions and orchestrated her dismissal in May 2020, some 16 years after she refused to resume the “unwelcome sexual relationship.”
According to that suit, Ferguson continued to taunt DeNicolo with the “backrub” phrase, berated her in front of co-workers and demanded personal favors, such as babysitting his children when they were young, for the rest of her time in the job.
Ferguson’s legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him, alleging it appears to be an attempt to “smear (his) reputation.” Ferguson “emphatically denies the existence of a sexual relationship” with DeNicolo “as well as engaging in the other conduct alleged in the complaint,” his lawyers said in their motion.
In her new complaint against Hubbard, DeNicolo contends the company made defamatory statements to its employees and the media after the Tribune reported on the earlier suit.
Responding to questions from reporters Monday, England issued a statement saying the company acted quickly after learning of DeNicolo’s allegations against Ferguson. “An internal investigation and an independent external investigation found no evidence to corroborate allegations of illegal workplace conduct,” the statement said.
A similar message was shared with the staff, according to the new defamation suit. In the new suit, DeNicolo alleges those statements were an attempt to see that “she be falsely branded as a liar so it, Hubbard Radio, can continue to keep a serial sexual abuser on the air and profit from ‘Eric in the Morning’ at the expense of Cynthia DeNicolo and all other women whom Ferguson has abused and exploited.”
Her attorney, Carmen Caruso, included as exhibits in the new defamation suit written declarations from Mori and her husband, Mike, both signed Thursday, regarding the alleged Christmas party incident in 2003. The Ohio woman said in her declaration that she reached out to Caruso after reading the Tribune’s story about the first lawsuit. She did not file a suit of her own.
Kristen Mori stated in the court filing that she worked closely with Ferguson while employed at The Mix in sales from 1998 to 2004.
“On multiple occasions while I worked at The Mix, I observed Ferguson behave inappropriately toward women, including me,” she wrote.
Mori provided two examples. In fall 1999, when she was 29, Ferguson asked her if her breasts were real when the two drove back to the station following a work lunch, according to her declaration. She said yes, hoping her answer would put an end to the conversation, she wrote.
“Ferguson responded that for him to believe me he would need to feel my breasts,” Mori wrote. “I was disgusted by Ferguson’s words and immediately left the car after he said that.”
Mori’s declaration also said that at an office Christmas party in December 2003 Ferguson “greeted me by hugging me, and while he was hugging me, he slipped his hands under my jacket and very clearly grabbed my breasts.”
Mori wrote she left the party immediately afterward with her husband, whose declaration confirms his wife’s account of the alleged incident.
Mike Mori, identified as an account executive with WDRV-FM 97.1 at the time, stated he saw Ferguson “rubbing my wife’s breast with his hand” and that Ferguson stopped when he approached.
“I was furious and considered punching Ferguson for groping my wife,” he wrote. “However, I did not do anything for fear of causing a scene that would result in me and my wife losing our jobs.”
Like DeNicolo, Kristen Mori said she did not report the alleged behavior to management for fear of losing her job.
DeNicolo said in the initial lawsuit that Ferguson attempted to kiss her after a company event in December 2003. It’s unclear if both alleged incidents were tied to the same event, but DeNicolo’s defamation suit against Hubbard said the Christmas party Mori attended was “shortly before Ferguson began targeting DeNicolo for unwelcome oral sex.”
Hubbard has owned The Mix since 2011. In her defamation suit against the company, DeNicolo is seeking at least $10 million in punitive damages.
According to the defamation suit, if Hubbard had conducted “an honest and competent investigation” it would “have learned (to the extent it did not already know) that DeNicolo’s complaints against Ferguson are true.”
It continues: “... motivated by greed, the management of The Mix, and its owner/operator Hubbard Radio, treat Ferguson as though he is a ‘sacred cow’ that the station must never offend, and they are desperately trying to promulgate the lie that their supposed ‘investigation’ turned up no evidence to corroborate DeNicolo.
“Hubbard Radio’s ongoing attempt to keep Ferguson’s serial abuse of women secret has only emboldened Ferguson in his conduct as a serial abuser of women over many years.”
DeNicolo’s May lawsuit against Ferguson seeks unspecified monetary damages, alleging he intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
In their motion to dismiss the May suit, Ferguson’s attorneys said DeNicolo cannot sue Ferguson because she signed a separation agreement that includes a clause barring her from any future claim against the company, Hubbard Radio Chicago, and its management “in return for a substantial severance package.” They say that agreement also covers Ferguson. The motion to dismiss is pending.
In the May lawsuit, DeNicolo said Ferguson told her in 2017 that he feared another female employee was preparing to make sexual harassment allegations against him. Ferguson allegedly told DeNicolo to “stay silent and to deny any allegations by other women that Ferguson had engaged in inappropriate behavior,” according to the lawsuit.
Kathy Hart, longtime co-host of the “Eric & Kathy” show on WTMX, left in 2017 without explanation. Another co-host, Melissa McGurren, exited Ferguson’s show in December 2020 without publicly disclosing a reason.
