Exclusive | Emmy-winning TV reporter Rachel Yonkunas abruptly fired after bosses shortchanged her— while male colleagues received plethora of support: bombshell suit

An Emmy-winning investigative reporter claims she was abruptly fired from News12 Long Island after calling out her bosses for shortchanging her on resources and air time — even sidelining her from coverage of the Gilgo Beach killings — while male colleagues had plenty of support, according to a lawsuit.

Rachel Yonkunas, who worked for the local news network since 2022, was stunned in September after her superiors demanded she take a $10,000 pay cut to join the station’s morning broadcast.

“I was shocked, devastated and confused,” Yonkunas, 35, exclusively told The Post. “I couldn’t understand why they were putting me, a successful investigative reporter, in this position. I think they thought I would just accept it.” 

The ultimatum came after Yonkunas pointed out how male peers were getting more from the station, including regularly getting additional help on assignments, she said.

One male investigative reporter who worked for News12 in New Jersey “got the support of producers and photographers” and the stories worked on by male peers “were given priority,” Yonkunas said in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed Altice USA, which owns News12 in the tri-state area.

Meanwhile, Yonkunas had her stories pulled from broadcasts an hour before they were to air, in favor of male coworkers, she alleged.

For months, she had no photographer to help her while a male sports anchor was “regularly prioritized” for such support, she said in court papers which did not identify the colleagues by name.

“High profile assignments were consistently given to male reporters. For instance, despite Ms. Yonkunas’ significant contributions to the Gilgo Beach investigation, [the story was] assigned … to a male reporter, disregarding both her and her female colleague’s input,” she said in court papers.

Yonkunas said her work had been consistently praised before she spoke out — and that after she raised the issue of the disparities, she was put on a 30-day performance improvement plan and asked to do more.

“It came out of left field,” said Yonkunas, who was nominated for four Emmys this year and won the prestigious award in 2016 while working for a network in Albany.

The University of Tampa-educated journalist said she met the goals laid out for her in the performance improvement plan and was blindsided by the demand she step into the lower-paying gig.

Her bosses claimed they didn’t want Yonkunas to leave but “made me feel like I was not good enough to be there,” she recalled.

“I was told I couldn’t return to the office until I made a decision [but] I was currently under a contract. I feared if I didn’t show up to work . . . it would be considered insubordination.”

She was promptly canned after showing up to work without giving an answer on whether she’d take the lower-paying gig, Yonkunas said.

“This was my dream job,” she said. “I knew I wanted to plant roots here. This was it for me.”

“This case underscores the systemic gender-based discrimination that our client, Ms. Yonkunas, endured during her tenure at News 12,” said her attorney, Erik Bashian, while her other lawyer, Matthew Blit, called the network’s actions “a calculated effort by the defendants to marginalize and ultimately force her out of her position.”

Yonkunas, who is seeking unspecified damages, filed the lawsuit against Altice USA and News12 in a bid to help others facing discrimination, Yonkunas said.

“I investigate stories. The last thing I want to be is the story,” she said. “And now I find I have to stand up for what’s happening, to make sure this doesn’t happen to the other female reporters still working there.” 

AlticeUSA said it was aware of the complaint but had yet to be served the lawsuit.

News12, which also has not been served with the court papers, slammed the allegations of gender discrimination as “entirely baseless.”

“News12 prides itself on providing an inclusive and equitable workplace where employees can thrive based on their skills, contributions, and merit,” the station said in a statement, adding of the allegations, “We will defend against them vigorously.”