LA Times CEO in Hot Water After NPR Exposé

Parent company, Tronc, looking into allegations of sexual impropriety by Ross Levinsohn
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 19, 2018 10:07 AM CST
LA Times CEO in Hot Water After NPR Exposé
Ross Levinsohn, then Yahoo Executive Vice President of Americas, in a file photo.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

The parent company of the Los Angeles Times is investigating allegations of inappropriate behavior by Ross Levinsohn, the newspaper's CEO and publisher. The company, Tronc, began the investigation Thursday after a National Public Radio story detailed two sexual harassment lawsuits that named Levinsohn while he worked at Alta Vista and News Corp, as well as complaints from employees who said he fostered a fraternity-like atmosphere, per the AP. "We are immediately launching an investigation so that we have a better understanding of what's occurred," a company statement said. "At Tronc, we expect all employees to act in a way that supports a culture of diversity and inclusion. We will take appropriate action to address any behavior that falls short of these expectations."

Levinsohn, who was given the job in August, has not been suspended. He did not comment to NPR, but the network said Levinsohn called NPR CEO Jarl Mohn on Wednesday and said the allegations against him are lies. He declined comment to the Associated Press. One of the sexual harassment lawsuits named Levinsohn and other executives at internet search engine Alta Vista, NPR reported. In testimony, Levinsohn acknowledged that when he was a vice president there in 2001 he rated the relative "hotness" of female colleagues during office banter with other male employees, and speculated aloud about whether a woman who worked for him was a stripper on the side. Another lawsuit, filed in 2007, alleged that Levihnson and other executives at News Corp., then the parent company of several Fox television properties, allowed a culture of sexual harassment to flourish.

(More sexual harassment stories.)

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