‘GMA’ Alum Joan Lunden Accuses Former Boss of Sexual Harassment

Joan Lunden went through a difficult workplace experience before becoming a host on Good Morning America.

Lunden opens up about the ups and downs of her personal and professional life in her new book, JOAN: Life Beyond the Script, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday, March 3. Among the many stories she shares in the book, Lunden recalled experiencing sexual harassment from her boss at the New York news station WABC-TV.

Lunden began working at the station as a weekend news anchor in 1975. According to the Los Angeles Times, Lunden reveals in her book that her boss, whom she refers to as “Ted,” once invited her to hang out on Fire Island. What she thought was a work get-together with other colleagues turned out to be a double date with Ted, a reporter from another news station, and his girlfriend.

“I was embarrassed that I’d been so naive as to let this situation unfold, and I was offended as a woman that a guy — my superior at work — thought he could get away with this! He assumed that I would just go along with it,” Lunden details in the book, per the outlet. “I was also scared because it felt like there was no way out. It was evening and the sky was getting darker by the minute. You can’t just walk outside a home on Fire Island and hail a cab to take you back to your apartment.”

While Lunden raised concerns to Ted about the changed plans, he told her to enjoy the moment. Things escalated further when he allegedly pressured her to sleep in the same bed as him that night, which she denied. She spent the night on the couch and departed from Fire Island in the morning.

Lunden alleges the encounter caused Ted to retaliate at work by cutting several of her stories from the news broadcast, leaving her feeling “vulnerable and helpless.” Lunden also claims the lack of stories resulted in a financial loss, as she received a bonus for each story aired on the show.

“But even more disturbing than the loss of pay was having to put up with his attitude and what it said to me and other women who only wanted to work as equals,” Lunden wrote, per the LA Times. “His behavior clearly sent the message that women were not equal to men, and that when I’d refused his overtures, he was free to seek revenge. This was clearly sexual harassment and sexual discrimination.”

A few months later, Lunden was encouraged to sue Ted and the network for discrimination and harassment. “I could see by the look on his face that my punch had landed,” she says in the book. “He walked out, and we both went back to work. Sometimes, you just have to put on your big-girl pants and stand up for yourself, even if it feels incredibly uncomfortable and scary.”

She claims that the threat of the lawsuit forced Ted to improve his behavior, though his bitterness toward Lunden allegedly continued. “I hope he’s reading this,” Lunden stated. “I’d like to be writing only about how this wonderful mentor had helped me be a better reporter, and how he helped hone my creative skills, because he did do that. I’m immensely appreciative. It’s such a shame that he couldn’t take that win.” (WABC-TV did not respond to the LA Times’ request for comment.)

Lunden went on to build a successful TV career. She joined GMA as a reporter in 1976 and became one of the show’s hosts in 1980. She appeared on the series for nearly two decades before leaving the ABC morning show in 1997.

Off the small screen, Lunden shares three kids with her first husband, Michael Krauss, to whom she was married from 1978 to 1992. She went on to wed Jeff Konigsberg in 2000, and the two welcomed two sets of twins via surrogacy.