An Emmy-winning investigative reporter claims she was abruptly fired from News12 Lengthy Island after calling out her bosses for shortchanging her on assets and air time — even sidelining her from protection of the Gilgo Seaside killings — whereas male colleagues had loads of assist, in line with a lawsuit.
Rachel Yonkunas, who labored for the native information community since 2022, was shocked in September after her superiors demanded she take a $10,000 pay minimize to affix the station’s morning broadcast.
“I used to be shocked, devastated and confused,” Yonkunas, 35, solely informed The Publish. “I couldn’t perceive why they have been placing me, a profitable investigative reporter, on this place. I feel they thought I might simply settle for it.”
The ultimatum got here after Yonkunas identified how male friends have been getting extra from the station, together with often getting further assistance on assignments, she mentioned.
One male investigative reporter who labored for News12 in New Jersey “bought the assist of producers and photographers” and the tales labored on by male friends “got precedence,” Yonkunas mentioned in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed Altice USA, which owns News12 within the tri-state space.
In the meantime, Yonkunas had her tales pulled from broadcasts an hour earlier than they have been to air, in favor of male coworkers, she alleged.
For months, she had no photographer to assist her whereas a male sports activities anchor was “often prioritized” for such assist, she mentioned in court docket papers which didn’t determine the colleagues by identify.
“Excessive profile assignments have been constantly given to male reporters. For example, regardless of Ms. Yonkunas’ important contributions to the Gilgo Seaside investigation, [the story was] assigned … to a male reporter, disregarding each her and her feminine colleague’s enter,” she mentioned in court docket papers.
Yonkunas mentioned her work had been constantly praised earlier than she spoke out — and that after she raised the problem of the disparities, she was placed on a 30-day efficiency enchancment plan and requested to do extra.
“It got here out of left discipline,” mentioned Yonkunas, who was nominated for 4 Emmys this yr and received the celebrated award in 2016 whereas working for a community in Albany.
The College of Tampa-educated journalist mentioned she met the targets laid out for her within the efficiency enchancment plan and was blindsided by the demand she step into the lower-paying gig.
Her bosses claimed they didn’t need Yonkunas to go away however “made me really feel like I used to be not ok to be there,” she recalled.
“I used to be informed I couldn’t return to the workplace till I decided [but] I used to be at the moment below a contract. I feared if I didn’t present as much as work . . . it might be thought-about insubordination.”
She was promptly canned after exhibiting as much as work with out giving a solution on whether or not she’d take the lower-paying gig, Yonkunas mentioned.
“This was my dream job,” she mentioned. “I knew I wished to plant roots right here. This was it for me.”
“This case underscores the systemic gender-based discrimination that our consumer, Ms. Yonkunas, endured throughout her tenure at Information 12,” mentioned her lawyer, Erik Bashian, whereas her different lawyer, Matthew Blit, referred to as the community’s actions “a calculated effort by the defendants to marginalize and in the end power her out of her place.”
Yonkunas, who’s searching for unspecified damages, filed the lawsuit in opposition to Altice USA and News12 in a bid to assist others going through discrimination, Yonkunas mentioned.
“I examine tales. The very last thing I wish to be is the story,” she mentioned. “And now I discover I’ve to face up for what’s occurring, to ensure this doesn’t occur to the opposite feminine reporters nonetheless working there.”
AlticeUSA mentioned it was conscious of the grievance however had but to be served the lawsuit.
News12, which additionally has not been served with the court docket papers, slammed the allegations of gender discrimination as “solely baseless.”
“News12 prides itself on offering an inclusive and equitable office the place workers can thrive based mostly on their expertise, contributions, and benefit,” the station mentioned in a press release, including of the allegations, “We’ll defend in opposition to them vigorously.”
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