A fired CBS News producer has sued the network, claiming that he was discriminated against for being gay.

Dick Jefferson filed papers at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan alleging that CBS News terminated him after he spoke out publicly about being attacked for being gay while on holiday in the Caribbean last year.

Jefferson said he called CBS, who sent an air ambulance to rescue both him and co-worker Ryan Smith from the island of St. Maarten. Jefferson said that action probably saved Smith's life. Smith still works on the CBS magazine programme 48 Hours.

However, he says that after returning to work, senior vice president Linda Mason "told me this was a gay rights issue and I said it had nothing to do with gay rights; I was the victim of a crime." Jefferson was interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America and the Viacom-owned gay channel Logo about the incident. Jefferson claims that Mason said that were he to "get involved in advocacy issues," the network "might ask [him] to take a leave of absence."

Jefferson's lawsuit specifically names Mason, CBS News executive producer Patricia Shevlin and CBS News. The suit claims the network "improperly pried into his private life, dictated his after hours activities, restricted his First Amendment rights, created false complaints about his performance," and "terminated him on the basis of his sexual orientation."

In total the claims add up to $50m.

CBS has reacted angrily to what it called an "unequivocally baseless" lawsuit. In a statement, spokesperson Sandra Genulius said:

"Mr. Jefferson was terminated at the conclusion of his employment agreement due to legitimate issues with his performance that had been previously discussed with him. His allegations that Linda Mason discriminated against him could not be further from the truth. This complaint reveals a stunningly selective recall of the "facts," both real and imagined, including omission of the extraordinary lengths to which CBS News and, specifically, Ms. Mason, went to airlift him to safety and better medical treatment - at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars paid for by the Company - after the attack, which Mr. Jefferson suffered while on a personal vacation.

"Additionally, contrary to Mr. Jefferson's claims, CBS News also supported Mr. Jefferson's right to discuss the attack publicly and to seek justice, which he clearly did. CBS policy forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the company regularly educates its workforce about complying with that and other employment policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment. We will vigorously and aggressively defend ourselves against Mr. Jefferson's unwarranted complaint and his regrettably vicious and unconscionable attack on Ms. Mason's character."