Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo put in a request for arbitration on Wednesday and was critical of his former colleague, Don Lemon, in the filing.
Cuomo has alleged that his former network wrongly terminated him and "damaged" his professional reputation.
In December last year, CNN fired Chris Cuomo and said he had broken the company's rules by helping his New York governor brother, Andrew Cuomo, who was facing allegations of sexual harassment at the time.
The $125 million price tag is meant to cover Chris Cuomo's remaining salary under his employment agreement with CNN, as well as potential future wages lost.
In the filing, Cuomo argued that former CNN chief Jeff Zucker did not "instruct CNN employees not to disparage Cuomo" while broadcasting.
It cited coverage by CNN anchors Don Lemon, Brian Stelter and Jake Tapper as examples, according to a USA Today report.
It also maintains that Cuomo was transparent with CNN about how involved he was with helping his brother. He also claimed that Zucker and one-time marketing chief Allison Gollust had provided advice to the former governor.
In addition to this, Cuomo's complaint claimed Lemon was never disciplined for texting actor Jussie Smollet and warning him that the police did not believe his account of an alleged racist and homophobic attack.
Smollett was later convicted for faking a hate crime. The actor continues to deny the charges.
Ahead of Chris Cuomo's suspension from CNN, Lemon reiterated how thankful he was for Cuomo's friendship, while the pair were on air together. These comments came as Cuomo was facing criticism for the help he gave to his brother.
The pair were open about their close friendship and also used to host a podcast together called The Handoff. The last show was on November 22, 2021.
"It is good to see you, I know you had a great Thanksgiving, I hope that you did. I missed you, I am grateful for your friendship and your love," Lemon said during a late November broadcast.
"I think that you are fantastic. You are one of the kindest people I know on this planet, there you go, I meant every word."
Cuomo replied with an equally heartfelt message as the pair reflected on their Thanksgiving celebrations.
"I am thankful for you in my life. It was good to see you having a good time. I like the Friendsgiving tradition," he said.
"For us it was great to be in the house for the first time, it was all good, one memory at a time. It is always better with you but it was good to know you were having fun where you were."
Newsweek has contacted CNN, Lemon and Cuomo for comment.
