A woman who accused former WTMX-FM morning host Eric Ferguson of coercing her to perform sexual acts, then retaliating against her at work when she stopped complying, has dropped her explosive lawsuit against the sidelined radio personality.
The lawsuit by former assistant producer Cynthia DeNicolo, filed in May 2021, sparked a tumultuous two years of public battles for Ferguson and Hubbard Radio Chicago, the company that owns the adult contemporary station at 101.9.
Other women followed DeNicolo with allegations of workplace misconduct by Ferguson, forcing the Radio Hall of Famer to step away in October 2021 from the show he had hosted for 25 years. Ferguson, through his lawyers and in legal filings, has denied engaging in inappropriate workplace conduct.
Lawyers were due in court Tuesday for a case management conference in preparation for a tentative Jan. 21 trial date. But court records show that DeNicolo requested to dismiss the litigation last week.
Cook Couny Judge Daniel Kubasiak granted her request “with prejudice,” meaning DeNicolo cannot refile. The judge also ordered DeNicolo and Ferguson to pay their own attorneys’ fees and related costs.
There is no mention of a financial settlement in the public case file.
Attorneys on both sides declined to comment. Efforts to reach Ferguson, 56, and DeNicolo, 45, were unsuccessful Tuesday, and Hubbard Vice President Jeff England did not respond to a request for comment.
DeNicolo was laid off from WTMX, the station known as “The Mix,” in May 2020 after a 20-year career there. In her lawsuit, she alleged Ferguson used his position to coerce her into performing oral sex from January until August 2004, typically after a company event or after work.
Ferguson “used code words to communicate his unwelcome demands for oral sex,” telling DeNicolo he “needed a backrub,” the suit alleged.
DeNicolo said in the complaint that she “summoned the courage” to end the physical contact but Ferguson taunted her with the phrase throughout her time at the station, berated her in front of other workers and demanded personal favors, such as pressuring her to babysit his children.
DeNicolo said she never reported him to management for fear she would “lose her job, be publicly shamed, and humiliated out of the radio industry or otherwise driven out of radio by a vindictive Eric Ferguson,” the suit said.
She alleged Ferguson had “blocked (her) career advancement” and eventually “caused their mutual employer to terminate her using COVID-19 as a pretext,” according to the lawsuit.
DeNicolo’s suit came about six months after a popular Ferguson co-host, Melissa McGurren, left the station in December 2020 without disclosing a reason. Kathy Hart, longtime co-host of the “Eric & Kathy” morning show on The Mix, also departed without explanation in 2017.
McGurren broke her silence after DeNicolo sued, alleging in court filings that Ferguson had created an unbearably hostile work environment. Two other women also came forward with allegations about Ferguson: a former sales employee who stated in a court filing that he groped her at a 2003 Christmas party, and former WTMX host Jennifer Ashrafi, who described him in a written declaration as “rude and dismissive to women.”
Afternoon Briefing
Weekdays
Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.
The ensuing controversy fueled discussion about the way women who work in Chicago radio are treated, with all four women who spoke out about Ferguson alleging management protected him because of high ratings.
Ferguson was taken off the air in fall 2021, shortly after the Tribune broke news of DeNicolo’s lawsuit. Then, that October, a statement from Ferguson was circulated to station employees announcing he planned to “step away from the show” and felt “energized to move forward and defend myself against claims made against me and the station and look forward to seeing them through to their conclusion.”
He added: “I am confident that at the end of the day the courts will rule and the right outcome will prevail.”
McGurren did not personally sue Ferguson. But she and DeNicolo each filed a federal defamation lawsuit against their former employer, Hubbard Radio, whose management has said it found no evidence to corroborate allegations of illegal workplace conduct.
Federal judges dismissed both defamation suits, finding that Hubbard’s statements were nonactionable and did not defame DeNicolo or McGurren.
McGurren now co-hosts a morning show on the Audacy-owned station WUSN-FM 99.5. At WTMX, afternoon host Chris Petlak succeeded Ferguson as host of the morning show on The Mix in January 2022.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
