British-Pakistani journalist Saima Mohsin suing CNN for ‘unfair dismissal’. Cable News Network (CNN), a US-based broadcaster, is being sued for racial discrimination and unfair dismissal by a former reporter who was severely injured while on assignment in Israel.
According to the Guardian, the reporter, British-Pakistani Saima Mohsin, was left disabled after an accident while reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict from Jerusalem.
She has struggled to sit, stand, walk, or return to full-time work since the 2014 incident in which her cameraman was hit by a car and suffered severe tissue damage.
Following the upsetting event, she urged to media organization to switch her to a physically less demanding role and support for rehabilitation, but CNN flat-out refused.
“She also alleges that she asked CNN if she could switch to a presenting role in order to reduce the amount of time spent traveling but was told ‘You don’t have the look we are looking for’,” the Guardian reported.
Three years later, CNN fired her.
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The reporter then decided to move the employment tribunal claim, which will hear the case on Monday as the multinational media company refused to support her following her life-changing injury.
“I worked hard to become an international correspondent and loved my job with CNN. I risked my life many times on assignment for CNN believing they would have my back. They did not,” she said.]
During her time at CNN, Mohsin claims she faced racial and disability discrimination, as well as a gender pay gap.
As British-Pakistani journalist Saima Mohsin suing CNN for ‘unfair dismissal’, the former CNN reporter also claimed that even when she was ready to go live on the ground, the managers preferred white American correspondents over her, giving her less on-air time.
According to CNN, Mohsin’s contract prevents her from bringing the case to a London court.
The journalist produced an ITV documentary about the agony of living with invisible disabilities, and she also freelances for Sky News in the United Kingdom.
“This should cause concern for all foreign correspondents who travel around the world — and take risks to do their journalism in the belief their employer will take care of them,” she said.
“I’m also taking the opportunity to highlight the racism and gender pay gap issues that I experienced. I was repeatedly let down and denied the ability to achieve my potential while I was at CNN. I am bringing my claim to take a stand and call for change to ensure women journalists, and women journalists of color, are better protected”.
