New York City 24/7 sports radio station WFAN and its parent companies have been hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by ex-sales executive Lauren Lockwood that also reportedly names on-air host Joe Beningno as one of the defendants.

WFAN is perhaps best known for imperious, top-rated afternoon drive talk show host Mike Francesa who retired in December to much FANfare and hoopla only to unretire a few months later after the successor show tanked in the ratings.

From the New York Daily News.

“Booze, brawls and babes fueled an ‘anything goes’ frat house atmosphere at WFAN, where silver-haired host Joe Benigno bragged about threesomes with prostitutes and his wife, according to a bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit filed Wednesday…Lockwood, 40, who filed the $5 million suit in Brooklyn Civil Court, says she brought in top clients and millions in sales, all the while being subjected to a bro culture full of sexual innuendo, leering co-workers and creepy back rubs.”

Added the New York Post:

“‘Benigno showed [Lockwood] a nude photo of his wife with a prostitute and propositioned [Lockwood] to join him, his wife and a prostitute in sexual intercourse,'” according to the complaint.

“Lockwood claims that her career was short-circuited after she rebuffed Benigno’s advances. Lockwood…who sold ads for WFAN and the Yankees Radio Network, endured a “Mad Men’-like environment where male executives’ affairs with subordinates were tolerated, the suit claims.”

Benigno, who has been with station for about 25  years,  co-hosts the midday show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays with sidekick Evan Roberts. WFAN broadcasts on 660 AM and 101.9 FM and obviously streams over the Internet.

Originally a regular caller to the station as “Joe from Saddle River,” Benigno, 64,  to his credit parlayed that into a gig as the WFAN overnight host before joining Roberts during the day. Based on his everyman demeanor on the air, the allegations against Benigno seem mind-boggling.

Lockwood, who worked for the station for about 11 years, claims she was let go by the station in 2017 after a brawl erupted in a luxury suite at the Barclays Center during the Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather boxing match which she allegedly tried to break up. She is also reportedly alleging gender bias,  unequal pay, and retaliation.

Setting aside the allegations in this particular lawsuit, in general male and female employees are unfortunately often mistreated in the workplace in various ways. It is also common for employers and employees to come up with revisionist histories when a dispute occurs afterwards. Whether unfairness rises to the level of illegality that can be proven based on evidence is another matter.

In terms of content, if you’ve listened to Joe and Evan recently on “the FAN” as it the station is called, the show seems to have devolved into an odd format where the high-energy Roberts and the callers update Joe on current events and sports.

Benigno is on vacation this week, but his agent has denied the allegation, Newsday reported.

WFAN owner Entercom (which bought the station from CBS Radio) has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation but a spokesperson said that intends “to defend the company vigorously.”

Evan Roberts opened the show this morning by acknowledging a “big story” in the courts, but added that he could not talk about about.

Updates: Entercom says that Joe Benigno will be behind the mic for his usual shift on Monday upon his return from vacation. Joe has hired attorney Arthur Aidala  who repeated the categorical denials and said that his defense will clear Joe B’s good name, the Post reported.

In the meantime, a former WFAN producer took to Twitter to cast doubt on the allegations against the midday host.

The Daily News claims it has video of the skirmish in the Barclays Center luxury suite.

Further update: Entercom has reversed course and now says that Joe Benigno is taking a leave of absence from WFAN, according to the Daily News.