He could be the world’s most forgiving billionaire.
One-time WABC radio host Maria Ryan, a long-rumored paramour of Rudy Giuliani, is suing radio boss John Catsimatidis, claiming his station fired her and the previous mayor for standing up towards gender discrimination.
However the grocery store mogul nonetheless considers Giuliani, a fellow heavywieght in NYC’s GOP, his good friend.
“I have always admired Rudy Giuliani,” mentioned Catsimatidis, who known as him “one of America’s greatest mayors ever.”
Ryan filed a lawsuit Saturday towards WABC and Catsimatidis, even because the businessman is negotiating a brand new cope with Giuliani’s son Andrew, additionally a WABC host.
Catsimatidis mentioned he and Giuliani nonetheless discuss, regardless of the battle at WABC.
“I have nothing against him,” he instructed The Put up.
“We fight every 30 years.”
Ryan, a former hospital CEO who labored on the station from 2021 till she was fired in Might, mentioned she repeatedly went to WABC President Chad Lopez together with her discrimination considerations, solely to have him blame Catsimatidis.
Ryan, 60, mentioned she initially labored with out pay after which was given a paltry $200 a present for “Uncovering the Truth,” which she and Giuliani hosted on Sundays.
The pay charge was under male counterparts, she mentioned within the Manhattan Supreme Courtroom lawsuit.
The licensed nurse practitioner was additionally pressured to supply “all four of her degrees to Lopez to validate her credentials as a ‘real’ medical provider, an experience that was both humiliating and demoralizing,” she mentioned within the authorized papers.
She was additionally falsely accused of taking part in unauthorized music on the present and claims bosses threatened to take away her as a result of she talked about Newsmax on the air — breaking an “unwritten” rule, in response to the Manhattan Supreme Courtroom submitting.
“I went to Chad Lopez and said, ‘I feel like this is a hostile work environment. My opinion isn’t valued,’” she instructed The Put up.
She is suing Catsimatidis, Lopez and the station for gender discrimination and unspecified damages.
Catsimatidis rejected the claims outright.
“Rudy Giuliani, one of America’s greatest mayors ever, asked WABC to hire Dr. Maria Ryan to assist Rudy with his weekly radio show, and WABC agreed. Maria was not treated differently than any other WABC employee,” he instructed The Put up.
“WABC radio show paid Maria appropriately, and she never complained to WABC that she was not paid properly because she was a woman. WABC has a proud history of incredible on-air talent, both men and women. Any allegation that women at WABC – on-air talent or otherwise – are treated differently than men is false.”
Catsimatidis added that Giuliani was “suspended from the air on a Friday for disregarding WABC directions about what was acceptable to debate on the air. WABC requested Rudy to return to a gathering the next Monday to debate the matter. He by no means got here to fulfill. Consequently, we ended Maria’s contract with WABC per the settlement.
“It was an unfortunate end to their time at WABC, and certainly not how we hoped Rudy’s time at WABC would end. We continue to think very highly of Rudy,” the assertion mentioned. “WABC denies all the allegations of wrongdoing alleged in this court complaint. We look forward to defending ourselves and for the public to learn the truth about what actually happened.”
Ryan, who got here to prominence talking out towards the Facilities for Illness Management’s dealing with of the pandemic, mentioned she caught with the station with out voicing her considerations for so long as she may.
“It was hard for me to even reach out to a lawyer because I was embarrassed, because I took it for so long,” she mentioned.
“I would never tell my granddaughters to do that. I would never tell my employees that. Here I am the one experiencing this and I don’t even know how to handle it.”
She rejected rumors she and Giuliani had been romantically concerned.
“It’s very insulting and it feeds into their narrative,” mentioned Ryan, a mom of three and grandmother of 5 who has been married for 43 years.
“We’re not only in a professional relationship, now we’re family friends. Rudy just spent Thanksgiving at my house in New Hampshire.”
“The only reason we got fired was because Rudy came forward and said, ‘This is a hostile work environment and she’s being treated differently because she’s a woman.’”
The bankrupt, twice-indicted Giuliani was suspended after ranting on his namesake WABC present concerning the “stolen” 2020 presidential election then failed to point out as much as a subsequent assembly, Catsimatidis mentioned.
Giuliani can be anticipated to sue the station for wrongful termination, mentioned legal professional Matthew Blit, who reps each the previous mayor and Ryan.
“The only thing that changed since the day that they were on the air was that Dr. Ryan made a complaint of gender discrimination, and like on Sept. 11, Mayor Rudy courageously stood up for her, causing both to be unlawfully retaliated against,” Blit mentioned.
