Judge dismisses Fox News from sexual assault lawsuit against former star

A federal decide has dismissed Fox Information Media from a lawsuit filed by former Fox Enterprise producer Jennifer Eckhart towards the community and its former star, anchor and correspondent Ed Henry.

Fox fired Henry in July 2020 after an outdoor investigation into “willful sexual misconduct within the office” prompted by an inner criticism Eckhart had filed with the community. In her subsequent civil lawsuit that month, she alleged that Henry had raped her and had for years sexually harassed her, promising to advance her profession in change for intercourse and grooming and coercing her to take action. She claimed Fox Information ought to have recognized about Henry’s alleged conduct and brought steps to cease it.

Eckhart’s lawsuit got here on the heels of the #MeToo motion. Fox was at its epicenter: A wave of revelations of episodes of pervasive sexual harassment led to upheaval on the community. Fox and its controlling homeowners, the Murdochs, fired executives and stars and undertook a collection of initiatives that it stated would change the tradition.

Eckhart’s swimsuit asserted that Fox “continues to guard and reward perpetrators of sexual harassment and refuses to take accountability for placing such individuals in positions of energy.” She additionally alleged that her firing earlier that 12 months was based mostly on a pretext. However Fox offered documentation indicating it had fired her for poor efficiency, together with often being late to work — a degree U.S. District Choose Ronnie Abrams discovered the proof supported.

Henry, now anchor at Fox’s smaller right-wing competitor Newsmax, has argued that every part sexual that occurred between him and Eckhart was consensual and that he will likely be vindicated in court docket.

Abrams, based mostly in Manhattan, upheld Fox’s claims that it couldn’t have recognized that “Henry would assault Eckhart as a result of it didn’t be taught of his alleged misconduct till a lot later.”

“We’re happy with the court docket’s choice,” Fox Information stated in an announcement launched by means of a spokesperson.

Former Fox producer says she’s going to enchantment ruling

Eckhart stated she would enchantment the dismissal of Fox Information from her lawsuit.

“This combat is larger than me,” Eckhart stated in an announcement. “It’s about altering a company tradition that continues to allow abuse, worry, intimidation and silence.”

She stated she was grateful that Abrams had permitted most of her case towards Henry to proceed; the decide discovered that her allegations might persuade “an inexpensive jury.” The trial is scheduled to start Might 12.

The main points of her allegations are grim and disturbing. In court docket filings, she alleges that Henry compelled her to carry out oral intercourse on him on the Fox Information headquarters in New York Metropolis; she alleges that, two years later, he handcuffed her as a part of what her authorized workforce termed “a violent, painful rape” in a Manhattan resort room. Eckhart additionally alleged that Henry violated sexual trafficking legal guidelines by engaging her to have intercourse in change for serving to her profession.

Choose Abrams dismissed Eckart’s declare of “revenge porn” towards Henry. His authorized workforce had filed sexually express pictures she had despatched him to bolster its argument that the sexual relationship was consensual.

Henry had been suspended in 2016 by Fox’s chairman on the time, Roger Ailes, when tabloid reviews revealed his relationship with a Las Vegas hostess. Fox’s government vice chairman for human sources, Kevin Lord, testified at a deposition that Henry attended a “sexual rehabilitation middle” earlier than returning. (Fox Information “insists” that it merely “recommend[ed]” that Henry attend, the decide wrote.)

A collection of sexual harassment allegations

Ailes was dismissed in summer time 2016 after former host Gretchen Carlson lodged complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct towards him, and quite a few different former and present feminine staffers adopted with their very own. Ailes died in 2017.

Different Fox stars have been quickly compelled out over associated allegations, together with primetime star Invoice O’Reilly, correspondent James Rosen and government Francisco Cortes. All save Rosen denied the allegations; he didn’t handle the accusations when NPR first disclosed them.

Fox, its insurers, and O’Reilly reached agreements to pay sums totaling greater than $200 million to settle widespread claims of sexual harassment and to oust a few of these accused, together with Ailes and O’Reilly.

Henry not solely returned to air, however was promoted, finally turning into co-host of the morning present America’s Newsroom. 

In 2017, a colleague had warned senior Fox executives towards giving Henry better prominence on the community as a result of it might injury Fox’s efforts to reform its office tradition.

In Eckhart’s case, Fox has resolutely rejected any data of and therefore accountability for Henry’s actions and assault. Eckhart had admitted that she had not expressly disclosed what she alleges was routine harassment of her by male colleagues, and never solely by Henry, till after she was fired; nonetheless, she cited a “poisonous” office atmosphere in an earlier assembly about her job efficiency.

On the time of the swimsuit’s submitting in 2020, Fox stated it took “all claims of harassment, misconduct and retaliation severely, promptly investigating them and taking fast motion as wanted — on this case, the suitable motion based mostly on our investigation is to defend vigorously towards these baseless allegations.”