WTMX's Eric Ferguson Sued Over Alleged Sexual Coercion

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, September 28, 2021 | 4:46pm CT

Eric Ferguson

Cynthia DeNicolo, a former assistant producer for WTMX-FM/Chicago's "Eric in the Morning" show is suing host and Radio Hall of Famer Eric Ferguson, alleging he coerced sexual favors from her early in her career, then prevented promotions as punishment after she refused to resume an "unwelcome sexual relationship," reports the Chicago Tribune.

In a lawsuit filed last May, DeNicolo claims Ferguson orchestrated her dismissal nearly 16 years after she stopped providing oral sex about twice a month in response to Ferguson's demands, for which he allegedly used the code words "I need a backrub."

DeNicolo alleged in the lawsuit that Ferguson taunted her with the phrase throughout her tenure at the station, which ended in May, 2020. She also alleges that he berated her in front of other workers and demanded personal favors, such as pressuring her to babysit his children for a decade beginning in 2003, leading her to be known around The Mix as "Eric's babysitter."

The complaint accuses Ferguson of intentional infliction of emotional distress and alleges he "intended that DeNicolo suffer low wages and stalled career advancement as her punishment for refusing to succumb to his demands to resume the unwelcome sexual relationship she terminated in 2004."

DeNicolo, 43, did not report him to the station for fear she would "lose her job, be publicly shamed, and humiliated out of the radio industry or otherwise driven out of radio by a vindictive Eric Ferguson," according to her lawsuit.

Read the entire article from the Chicago Tribune here.