$20 million of Les Moonves’ planned severance will go to these groups

CBS is dedicating part of Les Moonves’ planned severance to "eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace.”

As a response to its recent scandal over its disgraced CEO, CBS is donating $20 million to 18 groups dedicated to that cause, the media company announced Friday.

Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, RAINN, and the National Women’s Law Center are among the groups to receive some of the donation money, which was taken out of a planned $140 million severance package for Moonves, who was ousted as CBS’s CEO in September after numerous women accused him of sexually assaulting and harassing them. Moonves could still possibly get the other $120 million, which the CBS board will decide by Jan. 31.

A group of outside lawyers hired to investigate Moonves’ tenure as CEO has reportedly concluded that the exec attempted to throw them off and cover up his alleged assault, which could put his fat severance package in jeopardy, because that would mean the company had cause to fire him. As part of the investigation, attorneys discovered that there was a broader problem with sexual harassment at CBS.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that the actor Eliza Dushku was fired for confronting Michael Weatherly about sexist behavior he exhibited on the set of CBS’s legal drama “Bull.” Dushku was awarded a $9.5 million settlement as part of her exit from the show.

“The allegations in Ms. Dushku’s claims are an example that, while we remain committed to a culture defined by a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace, our work is far from done,” CBS said in a statement to the Times. “The settlement of these claims reflects the projected amount that Ms. Dushku would have received for the balance of her contract as a series regular, and was determined in a mutually agreed-upon mediation process at the time.”

Moonves’ attorney had to approve of the groups that received parts of the $20 million, according to CBS News. Here is a full list of the groups to receive money:

Pipeline and Leadership Development

• Catalyst

• Free the Bid

• International Women's Media Foundation

• STRIVE International

• Sundance Institute's Momentum program

• TIME'S UP Entertainment

• Women in Film Los Angeles

• Women's Media Center

Training, Education and Culture Change

• Collaborative Fund for Women's Safety and Dignity (through Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors)

• Freedom Forum Institute – Power Shift Project

• Futures Without Violence

• National Women's Law Center

• New York Women's Foundation

• Press Forward

• Producers Guild of America Foundation

Victim Support

• Girls for Gender Equity / The 'me too.' Movement

• RAINN

• TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund

• Cover: Protesters stand outside the site of the CBS shareholders meeting in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. The new board has until the end of January to decide whether former CEO Les Moonves will receive his $120 million severance package. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)