A gender discrimination lawsuit has been lodged by Rachel Yonkunas, an investigative reporter who won an Emmy, against News12 Long Island and its parent company Altice USA. The suit alleges that she was dismissed after she vocalized her experiences of unequal treatment compared to her male counterparts.
Yonkunas, who started at the local news network in 2022, claims she was let go in September for not agreeing to a $10,000 salary reduction to transfer to the station’s morning broadcast.
The journalist, aged 35, won an Emmy in 2016 during her tenure in Albany, New York and was shortlisted for four more this year. She alleges enduring systematic discrimination at the station. Court documents reveal that Yonkunas was consistently denied resources that were easily accessible to her male peers.
The lawsuit enumerates specific incidents of alleged discrimination. Yonkunas asserts that her stories were displaced from broadcasts in favor of those made by male colleagues just an hour before airing. She also states that she was not provided with photography assistance for months while a male sports anchor was regularly given such support.
According to the lawsuit, the University of Tampa alumna also alleges she was excluded from major assignments, including the high-profile Gilgo Beach killings investigation, despite her significant contributions to the report. These assignments were instead handed over to male reporters.
Yonkunas states that after voicing her concerns about these disparities, she was put on a 30-day performance improvement plan. Despite achieving the objectives of the plan, she was then given the choice to accept a lower-paying role.
Yonkunas was dismissed when she reported for duty without agreeing to the salary decrease.
Her lawyers, Erik Bashian and Matthew Blit, claim that the network’s actions were a deliberate attempt to push her out of her position.
Altice USA, while aware of the complaint, claimed they had not been officially served with the lawsuit. News12 has refuted the allegations, labeling them as “completely baseless” and asserting, “News12 prides itself on providing an inclusive and equitable workplace where employees can thrive based on their skills, contributions, and merit.”
“I investigate stories. The last thing I want to be is the story,” Yonkunas stated. “And now I find I have to stand up for what’s happening, to make sure this doesn’t happen to the other female reporters still working there.”
