Post columnist Paige named in harassment suit

Ex-ESPN worker alleges she was sexually harassed

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, June 29, 2007

Denver Post sports columnist and talk show panelist Woody Paige has been accused of sexual harassment by a former ESPN makeup artist.

Rita Ragone, who worked on the set of the ESPN talk show Cold Pizza, is suing the sports network, saying she was fired after complaining about sexual harassment by the show's host and by Paige, a regular guest.

In the suit, Ragone said she was pinched and fondled by Paige and subjected to crude sexual comments by ESPN host Jay Crawford at the show's studio in Manhattan. Ragone said Paige once grabbed her backside so forcefully that she was "propelled forward and into the air."

Paige did not respond to messages from the Rocky Mountain News. But he told The Associated Press "it is not true" and declined further comment. Denver Post Editor Greg Moore declined comment Thursday.

This is not the first time Paige has been accused of sexual harassment. In 1992 he was forced to resign as executive sports editor of the Post after a female assistant accused him of verbally haranguing her and calling her a crude term for the female anatomy during an argument in his office.

The woman, Carrie Ludicke, later reached a financial settlement with the Post and left the newspaper. Paige denied harassing her.

ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said the latest allegations are false. He declined to discuss the specific charges in the suit, which also named Paige and Crawford as defendants.

Soltys said Crawford was upset by the accusations and read a statement in which the TV host said he "vehemently" denied the allegations and looked forward to answering them in court.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, claims the harassment began almost immediately after Ragone was hired by a video production company in 2005 to do hair and makeup on the Cold Pizza set.

Ragone said Paige repeatedly made vulgar remarks about her appearance. Crawford, she said, made unwanted sexual advances, told her she got the job only because of her looks, and contributed to a locker-room atmosphere by making disparaging remarks about another hair stylist.

Ragone said the situation was exacerbated by a few female employees who didn't seem to mind the atmosphere, including a stylist who gave the men lap dances.

"Ms. Ragone had never worked in such a vulgar or obscene environment," her lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.

Ragone said she complained to managers at ESPN and her employer, Atlantic Video, only to be told to keep quiet. Ragone said a manager at Atlantic Video fired her last year after she refused to let the complaints drop.

Atlantic Video President Ed Milligan said the company, which also is being sued, would defend itself vigorously.

"This lawsuit is without merit," he said in a statement.

Paige left Cold Pizza and returned to work as a columnist for the Post on Dec. 1. ESPN replaced Cold Pizza in May with First Take, a similar program co-hosted by Crawford.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.