Former CNN reporter Saima Mohsin has filed a lawsuit against the cable outlet. In the suit, she alleges she was subject to racial discrimination and unfair dismissal.
While reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in 2014, Mohsin was left disabled after an accident. Her cameraman allegedly ran over her foot with a car, causing tissue damage. As a result, she struggles to sit, stand, and walk, and has yet to return to full-time work.
She claims she asked the network to move from a reporter role to the anchor desk, but was told “You don’t have the look we are looking for”. Her contract was later terminated.
In the lawsuit, she alleges she was denied high-profile opportunities with CNN due to her Pakistani-British heritage. She claims white American correspondents were given assignments despite her proximity to stories that needed to be covered.
“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,” Mohsin said. “I am bringing my claim to take a stand and call for change to ensure women journalists, and women journalists of colour, are better protected”.
CNN has declined to comment on the allegations but has opposed the lawsuit, saying Mohsin’s contract shows she does not have the right to sue the outlet in the United Kingdom.
Since her exit from CNN, Mohsin has worked at Sky News on a freelance basis.
