Fox News Hits Back at Ex-Panelist -- WSJ
30 August 2016 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Fox News Channel called claims by former on-air personality
Andrea Tantaros that she was sexually harassed by former network
chief Roger Ailes a "smokescreen to obscure her violation of her
employment contract."
Ms. Tantaros "is not a victim, she's an opportunist," Fox News
said in a court filing Monday.
Fox News was responding to a suit Ms. Tantaros filed in New York
State Supreme Court last week in which she said she was punished
for accusing Mr. Ailes, the former Fox News chairman and chief
executive, of harassing her in 2015. She also accused his
associates of condoning his actions and harming her career.
Mr. Ailes resigned last month after Fox News parent 21st Century
Fox launched a probe into allegations against him of sexual
harassment. The investigation came after former Fox News anchor
Gretchen Carlson sued Mr. Ailes, alleging he didn't renew her
contract after she rebuffed his advances. Mr. Ailes has denied all
accusations against him of harassment.
As retaliation for rebuffing Mr. Ailes's advances, Ms. Tantaros
said, Fox News removed her from "The Five," the afternoon political
chat show on which she was a panelist.
Fox News countered that it suspended Ms. Tantaros last spring
for writing and publishing a book without first getting permission
and submitting the manuscript for review as required by her
contract. The network went on to say Ms. Tantaros is nothing more
than a "wannabe" pretending to be a victim of Mr. Ailes "when, in
fact contrary to her pleading, she never complained of any such
conduct."
In her suit, Ms. Tantaros said she had followed procedures
regarding her book and that she was benched because she had spoken
out against Mr. Ailes. Fox News denied Ms. Tantaros ever made any
official or unofficial complaint regarding Mr. Ailes.
Rupert Murdoch became acting chief executive of Fox News after
Mr. Ailes resigned July 21. Mr. Murdoch is executive chairman of
both 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp. The
two companies, which split in 2013, each count the Murdoch family
as a major shareholder.
In its filing, Fox News argued that per Ms. Tantaros's contract,
all claims must be settled in arbitration. Fox News said it had
already filed a demand for arbitration with Ms. Tantaros in May
because of the book.
In a separate court filing Monday, Mr. Ailes also sought
arbitration to resolve Ms. Tantaros's suit.
Judd Burstein, an attorney for Ms. Tantaros, said in a statement
that "Fox's right to arbitrate is a legal issue on which I am
confident Ms. Tantaros will prevail." If Fox News executives are
innocent, "why do they want this dispute to be resolved in the
shadows?" he said.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 30, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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