Following the firing of NBC's Matt Lauer amid sexual misconduct allegations, the network has received two additional complaints about him, including one from a former NBC employee who accused Lauer of sexually assaulting her in his office in 2001, the New York Times reports.
According to the woman, Lauer began making inappropriate comments to her shortly after starting at NBC in the 1990s, the Times reported. While traveling with him for a story, he allegedly asked her inappropriate questions over dinner, including whether she had ever cheated on her husband. She said he later sat uncomfortably close to her in the car on the way to the airport and told her she was "no fun" when she moved away from him.
The woman said Lauer called her to his office in 2001 to discuss a story, the Times reported. Once there, she said he locked the door – which he could reportedly do with a button under his desk – and told her to unbutton her blouse, which she did. He then stepped out from behind his desk, pulled her pants down and had sex with her, according to the woman, who said she passed out with her pants down and woke up on his office floor. Lauer's assistant then took her to see a nurse, she said.
Following the incident, the anchor reportedly never made an advance toward her again or spoke of what happened, the woman told the Times. While she didn't report the incident at the time out of fear of losing her job, she did tell her then-husband and a friend, both of whom confirmed to the Times that they had heard her story. On Wednesday, the incident was reported to NBC after the woman told her then-supervisor. She has since been contacted by the network's human resources department, the report said.
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