Lawsuit Filed Against Hurricane Dave, Urban One
The story was broken by Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who reports that Ms. Abraham, who worked at Hot 107.9 from December 2016 until February 23, 2018, filed the lawsuit on August 5 in the state court of Fulton County, GA. The suit alleges, among other charges, that on May 22, 2017, Smith (pictured, below) trapped her in his office, groped her, exposed himself and demanded oral sex. She claims she suffered unspecified injuries when escaping his grasp. The suit states, “As a result of Defendant Smith’s actions, Ms. Abraham suffered from insomnia, anxiety, weight loss, extreme fear of being with men in isolated situations, self-doubt, self loathing and many other infirmities.” The suit further alleges that after this incident, Smith’s harassment “became more extreme, creating a hostile working environment.”
In response to the lawsuit, Karen Wishart, Urban One EVP & Chief Administrative Officer, issued a statement, which read, “The allegations made by Feleg Abraham against Dave Smith, both former employees of Urban One, are unsettling. As a company founded by an African-American woman with a long history of empowering women in the workplace, Urban One takes these allegations very seriously. After Ms. Abraham left Urban One to take a new job, we were notified of her complaint and conducted a thorough, independent investigation. In light of the ongoing litigation, we cannot provide further comment on this matter.”
For his part, Smith released his own statement that read, “This is an organized attempt by some former employees looking to capitalize on the #MeToo climate. I categorically deny these disgusting statements. I have no further comment.”