“Ailes then started complaining about marriage in general, and also made off-color jokes about being married”, the lawsuit states, charging Ailes asked Tantaros to turn around “so I can get a good look at you”, but that Tantaros refused. She was named one of the co-hosts of a popular Fox News show called “The Five”. It goes on to detail interactions that took place in August of 2014, in which Ailes called her into his office and joked with her about the sexual preferences of 10 of her colleagues at Fox News. She said that she told him about the meetings with Mr. Ailes and asked if he had told the head of publicity for Fox News, Irena Briganti, to go after her.
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Andrea Tantaros filed the lawsuit Monday in New York State Supreme Court in Manattan.
Fox and Ailes have not commented on Tantaros’s suit, but allege that her initial complaints were a ploy for a contract dispute, essentially saying that she made the whole thing up. Tantaros’s lawsuit, however, claims that this was done in retaliation for complaining about Ailes’s sexual harassment.
Most victims of sexual assault within their company gain condolences and support from their coworkers, but that wasn’t the case for one former employee at Fox News.
Andrea Tantaros doesn’t list O’Reilly or Brown as defendants in the suit.
The suit also alleges that newly appointed Fox News co-president Bill Shine encouraged Tantaros to drop her harassment claims.
Ailes resigned last month in the wake of several allegations that began with former morning anchor Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit, claiming the Fox News chief demanded sex to improve her standing at the network.
Brown has denied the allegations, tweeting, “As a survivor of sexual abuse, I would never perpetuate language or actions as described in FOX complaint”.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tantaros also alleged she had been also been subjected to unwelcome advances from O’Reilly, whom she had regarded as a friend and adviser.
Since Ms Carlson’s suit was filed July 6, more than 20 women have told her attorneys that they were harassed by Mr Ailes during his long career in television, dating as far back as the mid-1960s. Tantaros claims she reported his behavior to then-Fox News executive vice president Bill Shine, but nothing was done.
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According to Tantaros, Ailes once said, “Harris [Faulkner] has to be careful”.
