A former CNN reporter is suing the network for racial discrimination, alleging she was told she didn't have 'the look' for presenting

• A former CNN reporter is suing the company for discrimination and improper dismissal.
• Saima Mohsin was injured on assignment in Israel and requested reassignment as an on-air presenter.
• Her lawsuit claims that she was told she didn't have "the look" for presenting.

A former CNN reporter is suing the network for racial discrimination and improper dismissal. 

Saima Mohsin, a former international correspondent for CNN, broke her foot in 2014 while on assignment covering the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The injury left her partially disabled and unable to do the kind of physically demanding reporting work she had done previously. Mohsin held ongoing discussions with CNN over the subsequent years about alternative work, she alleges in the lawsuit, according to The Guadian.

One possibility was to work as a presenter, but CNN denied her request, and she was told, "You don't have the look we are looking for," according to The Guardian. 

Mohsin alleges in the claim that CNN denied her on-air opportunities in favor of white American correspondents, even when she was on the ground reporting and ready to go.

CNN terminated Mohsin's contract in 2017.

"We risk our lives in the field trusting we'll be taken care of," Mohsin said in a tweet on Monday.

"I worked hard to become an international correspondent and loved my job with CNN," Mohsin says in the claim, according to The Guardian. "I risked my life many times on assignment for CNN believing they would have my back. They did not."

—Saima Mohsin (@SaimaMohsin) July 10, 2023

 

 

Mohsin's case is expected to be heard by a tribunal in London on Monday, The Guardian reported.

CNN has had a tumultuous few months.

Its longtime presenter and "CNN This Morning" anchor, Don Lemon, was ousted from the company in April after 17 years on the air. Lemon said on Twitter that he was "stunned" by the decision and said it was "clear that there were some larger issues at play."

"At no time was I ever given the indication that I would not be able to do the work that I have loved at the network," he said in the statement.

Then, on June 7, CNN announced that CEO Chris Licht would be stepping down, days after The Atlantic published a brutal profile of his leadership. 

The profile explored CNN's hosting of a Trump Town Hall in May, which pulled in millions of viewers but was marred by public criticism of Licht's decision to air the event by the network's reporters. 

"My management believes they did the right thing as service to the American people," Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, said in a Columbia Journalism School commencement speech. "I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format."

Even with the boost in viewership from the town hall, CNN saw a 25% decline in primetime viewership in May compared to 2022, according to The New York Post. 

CNN declined to comment when reached by Insider on Monday.