She just didn’t measure up.
A Brooklyn federal jury yes terday flatly rejected an ex-NY1 reporter’s claim that she was sexually harassed when a col league doctored a picture to portray her with cartoonishly large breasts — determining she was no victim, and that the photo was a harmless office prank.
The panel of seven men and one woman needed just one minute to poll each other before ruling against Adele Sammarco, who sued the Time Warner- owned local cable news station for firing her in 2001 in alleged retaliation for her complaints.
Sammarco kept her head down as the verdict was read.
JUROR MARIE GORINI: I DON’T WANT TO ‘KNOCKER’ BUT SHE HAD NO REAL CASE
“I have no regrets,” she said afterward. “I’m really at peace. The truth came out, and that’s what I was looking for.”
“Truth” or not, a parade of NY1 honchos and on-air person alities — including anchors Kris ten Shaughnessy, Roma Torre and Rebecca Spitz — shot down Sammarco’s claims as nothing more than sour grapes from a mediocre reporter whose con tract wasn’t picked up.
They testified that:
* She laughed when she saw the doctored photo — and even posed for a New York Post arti cle holding the picture in her hand.
* She was a “chronic com plainer” who never lived up to her potential.
* The supposed description of her posterior as “Big Butt Booty” was actually a nickname given to a male colleague.
* She had a raunchy sense of humor, and enjoyed talking about her breasts.
NY1 bosses Steve Paulus and Peter Landis, both co-defendants in the case along with Time Warner, argued that Sammarco’s contract wasn’t renewed because she wasn’t very good at her job.
“Anyone who knows the organization knows these claims were not true,” Paulus noted about Sammarco’s lawsuit.
The two-week trial featured graphic testimony and even props — including the mock photo of a huge-breasted Sammarco doctored in 1999 by ex-NY1 reporter Jeff Simmons.
Plus, the former anchorwoman claimed she was on the receiving end of inappropriate sex jokes.
But jurors saw the interactions as nothing more than light-hearted jokes that would typically be exchanged among co-workers.
Juror Marie Gorini and the seven men on the panel needed only slightly longer than a newscast to reach their verdict. While they were out for some 40 minutes after being given a charge by federal Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, most of that time was consumed by lunch.
A quick vote showed a unanimous decision in favor of the TV station, jurors said.
Among the evidence considered was video of Sammarco’s reaction to the doctored photo. She had said she felt humiliated by the picture, although she appears to be laughing about the joke on a video shot at a company picnic.