Jeff Shell Ousted As NBCUniversal Chief With Cause Due To “Sexual Harassment” Of Employee, Comcast Says, Signaling Intent To Avoid Severance Payout

deadline.com:

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was dismissed “with cause” due to “inappropriate conduct” and “sexual harassment” of an employee, according to a new SEC filing from parent company Comcast.

As Deadline was the first to report, the employee in question is understood to be CNBC anchor and Senior International Correspondent Hadley Gamble.

The “with cause” designation means the company will likely seek to avoid severance payments to Shell. Most executive contracts contain language stipulating different scenarios of how their separation from the company would be treated financially.

Sometimes, as in the removal of Les Moonves as CEO of CBS Corp., there can be a legal battle over severance payment, though there was no immediate indication of Shell contesting the “with cause” finding. “Following a complaint that Jeffrey Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment, Comcast Corporation retained outside counsel to investigate the allegations.” the paragraph-long filing says, “During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.