The parent company of CBS and its former chief executive, Les Moonves, agreed to pay $9.75 million after a state investigation found that the network and its senior leadership had concealed accusations of sexual harassment against Mr. Moonves.
The settlement fund will be paid into by Paramount. Mr. Moonves will make a payment. Paramount will pay $14.75 million to resolve a shareholder lawsuit.
In a statement, Paramount confirmed that it had reached a resolution with the New York attorney general's office.
The statement said that the matter did not relate to the current company and that the former C.E.O. was fired for cause.
In September of last year, Mr. Moonves stepped down from CBS after being accused of sexual harassment. He denied the accusations. A lawyer for Mr. Moonves didn't reply immediately.
The company's leadership knew about the allegations against Mr. Moonves before they became public, according to the New York attorney general's office.
"As a publicly traded company, CBS failed its most basic duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors."
In November of last year, a captain in the Los Angeles Police Department told a CBS employee that there was a sexual assault complaint against Mr. Moonves. The captain worked for CBS for months as the company tried to keep the complaint from being reported by the news media.
The police captain told the CBS employee and Moonves lawyer that they would be the first point of contact in the investigation. An investigating officer would try to prevent an accuser from speaking with reporters, according to the message.
The Los Angeles Police Department said that it had begun an investigation into the retired officer's conduct after learning of the captain's actions.
A member of the L.A.P.D. is accused of betraying the trust of a sexual assault victim. This is not reflective of our values as an organization.
According to the attorney general's investigation, CBS gave Gil Schwartz the go-ahead to sell millions of dollars' worth of the company's stock in June of last year. Ms. James believes that Mr. Schwartz knew about the accusations against Mr. Moonves. The death of Mr. Schwartz took place in 2020.
Mr. Moonves was credited with turning CBS into television's most-watched network. The New Yorker published an article about six women accusing Mr. Moonves of sexual harassment in July of last year. Six more women came forward with claims against Mr. Moonves in an article published by the magazine.
In December of last year, the company fired Mr. Moonves for violating company policies and breaching his employment contract.
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