The lawyer for Matt Lauer's accuser is praising NBC for acting "quickly and responsibly" to fire the "Today" show host for alleged sexual abuse.
Ari Wilkenfeld says in a statement that representatives from NBC's Human Resources Department met with him and his unnamed client Monday night for her account of "egregious acts of sexual harassment and misconduct" by Lauer.
By Wednesday morning, NBC had investigated and removed Lauer.
Wilkenfeld says he is impressed by NBC's response, but he's "awed" by the courage his client displayed in voicing her grievance while asking nothing more than for NBC to correct it.
Matt Lauer's abrupt dismissal was announced in an internal memo issued Wednesday morning by NBC News head Andrew Lack disclosing a complaint from a colleague that details inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by the "Today" show anchor.
NBC said the misconduct started when Lauer and the employee were stationed at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and continued beyond that assignment. It has not said whether Lauer admitted or denied any wrongdoing.
Lack says the decision was reached to fire Lauer as a result of the complaint.
Lack says it was the first complaint about Lauer's behavior during more than 20 years at NBC News, but there is reason to believe the reported incident may not be the only one.
Lauer's firing comes a week after CBS News fired morning anchor Charlie Rose amid reports of sexual misconduct.
Lauer's former "Today" show colleagues were emotional on-air while dealing with the aftermath of his firing by NBC for what it termed "inappropriate sexual behavior."
Co-host Savannah Guthrie fought back tears while calling Lauer "my friend and my partner." She added that she was "heartbroken" for her unnamed colleague who the network said reported Lauer's behavior Monday night.
Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017
Hoda Kotb, who replaced Lauer in the anchor chair for the morning, added that she loved Lauer "as a friend and as a colleague" and said it was "hard to reconcile what we are hearing with the man who we know."
President Donald Trump responded to Lauer's termination, saying executives at NBC and Comcast should be "fired for putting out so much Fake News."
On Twitter Wednesday, Trump says "Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for `inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.' But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News."
