( Sexual Harassment Claims From Julie Roginsky, Juliet Huddy, Tonya Reiman, Margaret Hoover, Andrea Tantaros, Lisa Boothe, Lis Wiehl, Abby Huntsman, Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Alisyn Camerota, Ainsley Earhardt Heather Nauert Lauren Green Sandra Smith Patricia Stark Jill Dobson Courtney Friel Marianne Rafferty, Laurie Dhue, Arthel Neville And Elizabeth Prann Fox )
8:52am PT
by
Eriq Gardner
Julie Roginsky Is Latest to Sue Fox News for Sexual Harassment
Wesley Mann
Roger Ailes
Julie Roginsky, a political consultant and cable news
commentator, is the latest to hit Fox News with a lawsuit
claiming retaliation over treatment in the wake of alleged Roger Ailes
sexual harassment. On Monday, Roginsky filed suit in New York Supreme Court
against the cable network owned by 21st Century Fox, its
ex-president Ailes and current president Bill Shine. She is represented
in part by the same legal team who handled Gretchen Carlson's
much-discussed lawsuit, which prompted other women to come forward to
claim being subjected to a hostile workplace at Fox News. The Justice
Department is currently investigating Fox in connection to payments to
various Ailes accusers.
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According to Roginsky's complaint, her promotion to a regular spot co-hosting the midafternoon show The Five was "contingent upon having a sexual relationship with Ailes," and when she refused, she didn't get the position. Roginsky says she's appeared on Fox News since 2005 and
became a regular in 2011. Her contract was renewed three times,
according to the complaint. She began appearing on The Five after the departure of Bob Beckel. "Ailes repeatedly called Roginsky into his office for one-on-one meetings, telling her that he really liked her on The Five,"
states the complaint. "During these meetings, Ailes would frequently
steer the conversation to Roginsky's personal life by asking, among
other things, if she was dating anyone, why she was not married, what
she was looking for in a man, and remarking that he did not understand
why she was still single since she was so attractive." The complaint continues, "During these meetings, Ailes
additionally (and without irony) volunteered the advice that Roginsky
should engage in sexual relationships with 'older, married, conservative
men' because 'they may stray but they always come back because they're
loyal.' Ailes also remarked that he was loyal but that loyalty was a
two-way street. These comments and their delivery made it clear that
Ailes wanted a sexual relationship with Roginsky." Ailes would "consistently position himself in such a way as to look down Roginsky's dress," adds the complaint. Roginsky complains how the slot on The Five
eventually went to Geraldo Rivera — "even though that seat on the show
had typically been reserved for a liberal like Roginsky" — and although
she remained on rotation on Outnumbered, "she was rarely allowed to lead her own segments, unlike the other panelists on the show." Roginsky says through her complaint that she couldn't get another meeting with Ailes after rebuffing him. During the summer months last year, others at the network
put "increasing pressure" on Fox News employees to defend Ailes and
attack Carlson, the lawsuit alleges, so much so that Roginsky says she
left the Republican National Convention more than a day early. At the
Democratic National Convention, Shine allegedly told her that
"everything they are saying about Roger is true." Roginsky also claims that although her allegations against
Ailes were known by the network's top lawyer, Dianne Brandi, no one
advised her to contact those at the Paul Weiss law firm who were
investigating Ailes' conduct. The investigators didn't contact her
either. She says top brass "took no action to investigate" and "kept
Ailes' conduct secret and enabled it." The lawsuit asserts damage to her career path as well as
mental and physical pain. Represented by attorneys at Smith Mullin and
Golenbock Eiseman, Roginsky is seeking compensatory and punitive
damages. Fox News hasn't responded to a request for comment. Roger Ailes' attorney Susan Estrich told NPR's David Folkenflik that
the allegations are "total hogwash" and that the suit is a "copycat
complaint," while adding, "The idea that Mr. Ailes would pressure Ms.
Roginsky or any other women to have sexual relations with him is total
nonsense."
Fox News Channel has announced that they have fired correspondent John Huddy. The news comes hours after his sister Juliet Huddy made an appearance on Today to talk about her sexual harassment claims against former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
A statement from Fox News reads: “Following a thorough investigation
into a physical altercation earlier this month, Fox News made the
decision to sever ties with Jerusalem-based correspondent John Huddy.
The network’s investigation concluded last week, and due to observation
of the Sabbath on Friday, terminated Huddy’s employment this morning.” Huddy had been a foreign correspondent for Fox News since 2014. Juliet left the network in September and claims that O’Reilly tried to derail her career after she rebuffed his many sexual advances.
Their father John Huddy, Sr. was Fox News consultant and confidant to
FNC co-founder Roger Ailes who resigned last July after a sexual
harassment lawsuit filed by former anchor Gretchen Carlson. O’Reilly has
also been under fire as of late as his former Fox News colleague Megan
Kelly in regards to an email she sent last year to the co-presidents of
Fox News complaining about O’Reilly’s behavior toward women.
Bill O’Reilly Settled New Harassment Claim, Then Fox Renewed His Contract
Last
January, six months after Fox News ousted its chairman amid a sexual
harassment scandal, the network’s top-rated host at the time, Bill
O’Reilly, struck a $32 million agreement with a longtime network analyst
to settle new sexual harassment allegations, according to two people
briefed on the matter — an extraordinarily large amount for such cases.
Although
the deal has not been previously made public, the network’s parent
company, 21st Century Fox, acknowledges that it was aware of the woman’s
complaints about Mr. O’Reilly. They included allegations of repeated
harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay
pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to
the people briefed on the matter.
It
was at least the sixth agreement — and by far the largest — made by
either Mr. O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations
against him. Despite that record, 21st Century Fox began contract
negotiations with Mr. O’Reilly, and in February granted him a four-year
extension that paid $25 million a year.
Interviews
with people familiar with the settlement, and documents obtained by The
New York Times, show how the company tried and ultimately failed to
contain the second wave of a sexual harassment crisis that initially
burst into public view the previous summer and cost the Fox News
chairman, Roger Ailes, and eventually Mr. O’Reilly, their jobs.
In
January, the reporting shows, Rupert Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and
James, the top executives at 21st Century Fox, made a business
calculation to stand by Mr. O’Reilly despite his most recent, and
potentially most explosive, harassment dispute.
Their
decision came as the company was trying to convince its employees, its
board and the public that it had cleaned up the network’s workplace
culture. At the same time, they were determined to hold on to Mr.
O’Reilly, whose value to the network increased after the departure of
another prominent host, Megyn Kelly.
Photo
Lis Wiehl, a former Fox News legal analyst, in 2013. She appeared regularly on Mr. O’Reilly’s show for 15 years.Credit
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
But
by April, the Murdochs decided to jettison Mr. O’Reilly as some of the
settlements became public and posed a significant threat to their
business empire.
Early that month, The Times reported on five settlements
involving Mr. O’Reilly, leading advertisers to boycott his show and
spawning protests calling for his ouster. About the same time, the
O’Reilly settlements arose as an issue in 21st Century Fox’s attempt to
buy the European satellite company Sky.
In
addition, federal prosecutors who had been investigating the network’s
handling of sexual harassment complaints against Mr. Ailes had asked for
material related to allegations involving Mr. O’Reilly, according to an
internal Fox email obtained by The Times.
“Their
legal theory has been that we hid the fact that we had a problem with
Roger,” Gerson Zweifach, Fox’s general counsel, wrote in the email,
referring to the prosecutors and Mr. Ailes, “and now it will be applied
to O’Reilly, and they will insist on full knowledge of all complaints
about O’Reilly’s behavior in the workplace, regardless of who settled
them.”
He warned the Murdochs that they should expect details from the January settlement to become public. Six days later, Mr. O’Reilly was fired.
In
a statement, 21st Century Fox said it was not privy to the amount of
the settlement and regarded Mr. O’Reilly’s January settlement, which was
reached with a 15-year Fox News analyst named Lis Wiehl, as a personal issue between the two of them.
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