The 5 five female Anchors and Reporters that sued New York cable news channel NY1 last summer say that it is getting worse at the station.

The group sued their employer, alleging systemic gender and age discrimination.

Now they claim that they are enduring retaliatory tactics that have created an even more toxic environment at the news channel.

The women—Roma Torre, Amanda Farinacci, Vivian Lee, Jeanine Ramirez, and Kristen Shaughnessy—say management and several of their colleagues have engaged in repeated attempts to isolate and further sideline them since they went public with their stories.

The women are now working at home as a result of the coronavirus, but the situation within the newsroom deteriorated well before the pandemic. They say they have been given fewer opportunities to do high-profile reporting and featured in few promotional ads. They also have been subjected to degrading treatment by co-workers, according to the women and the former producers.

“The workplace is increasingly hostile since we’ve filed our lawsuit,” said Ramirez, a 49-year-old reporter at the station. "There are managers among the top ranks who refuse to acknowledge us.” Torre, a 62-year-old anchor and two-time Emmy recipient, called the retaliation “horrible” and said it made life at NY1 “utterly unbearable.” The women’s lawyer, David Gottlieb, said he has added retaliation claims to their complaint and plans to add more.

NY1 spokesperson Stacey Mitch denied that the women have been discriminated against since the lawsuit. “We reject these claims of retaliation,” Mitch wrote. “We are committed to fostering a fair, inclusive and respectful work environment at NY1 and take allegations of discrimination seriously. All five plaintiffs remain actively employed and appear regularly on-air.”

A former producer told VICE he left after personally witnessing “dozens of incidents” that seemed retaliatory in nature. The producer said he personally saw a fellow NY1 reporter comment that Shaughnessy, an anchor and reporter, was too old to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt with cut out shoulders—an incident also described by another former NY1 producer.

“I couldn't tolerate it anymore,” the former producer added. “That's largely why I chose to leave.”

H/T Vice News