Executives at The Daily Mail US have held closed-door meetings after a lawsuit filed Thursday accused the paper’s New York bureau of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. One female staffer is suing the paper and two members of its editorial team over what she calls severe and pervasive misconduct.

The lawsuit centers on allegations that harassment inside the bureau was not addressed, even as female staffers grew frustrated with management’s refusal to act. Breaker said it has details on what led to the claims, including what it described as a literal smear campaign, adding another layer to a dispute that is now playing out inside the company as well as in court.

The Daily Mail’s U.S. operation is being described as in a state of utter turmoil, and the case has put that turmoil on public display. The allegations are tied to a broader fight over how management handled complaints of workplace sexual harassment, a question that now hangs over the newspaper’s New York operation.

What happens next is likely to be shaped as much by the legal process as by the internal response. With two editorial team members named in the suit and executives already meeting behind closed doors, the paper faces pressure to confront not just the allegations themselves, but the handling of them.