A former PBS Newshour journalist is suing the news station after he was allegedly fired last year for looking at a picture of Meghan Markle and calling her, 'not bad.'

Hugh Heckman, 72, filed a complaint against the outlet in a U.S. District Court in New York last Thursday, claiming wrongful termination and sex discrimination.

Heckman claims he was terminated because of 'sex and sex stereotyping' after his 'innocuous remark' was only interpreted to constitute sexual harassment because of his gender.

Former PBS journalist Hugh Heckman is suing the news station for wrongful termination after he was fired for calling Meghan Markle, 'not bad'

PBS 'assumed incorrectly that a male must be guilty of a sexual harassment if a female employee complained, even though the remark was a stray and isolated remark that had no sexual intent nor harassing intent and was not direct at any co-workers,' the suit states.

Heckman was working on a news story regarding the Royal Family, specifically, Prince Harry and the duchess on November 25, 2017, when he and another male employee viewed a picture of Markle.

According to the suit, he said, 'not bad' to his co-worker in a lone tone of voice, which he claims intended to convey Markle had 'charm and beauty and was a suitable match for her fiance.'

However, two female employees sitting nearby, heard the remark and criticized Heckman for being inappropriate after all employees had recently attended training about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Heckman, 72, was hired as a writer and editor at PBS Newshour in 2015. He made what he described as 'an innocuous remark' about Meghan Markle while looking at a picture of her on November 25, 2017. He was fired two days later

One of the women then said to him, 'haven't you learned?' in a disparaging tone, according to the suit.

Heckman claims he was 'embarrassed and upset' by this criticism and immediately explained his words were not intended to be sexual in anyway.

He was fired two days later.

The New York-based journalist alleges PBS did not conduct a investigation on the matter and failed to get his side of the story before terminating him.

PBS allegedly stated that Heckman was fired because 'his services were no longer needed' yet proceeded to hire another person to take over his job shortly after.

He also accused the station of holding a double standard claiming the same two women who complained had previously looked at a picture of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and said he is 'hot,' the suit states.

Heckman is seeking unspecified damages for lost wages, emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, damage to his professional reputation, and other losses.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, his New York-based attorney Jillian T. Weiss said: 'This was a knee-jerk reaction and does not serve the #MeToo movement. It makes real cases of sexual harassment look frivolous.

'His comment had no sexual intent, he was working on the story about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and figuring out which photograph was appropriate to use.

'It is not right under our law to say, "We are assuming you committed sexual harassment because you are a man" and the women who have made equivalent types of statements are just going to be left off the hook. That's a double standard.'

Ms Weiss said her Emmy Award-winning client would be happy to return to PBS.

She said: 'He had been enjoying his time there and they were very pleased with him. Then this happens to him. But he would be happy to go back.'