After former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against former boss Roger Ailes earlier this year, the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, announced on Tuesday that they had reached a settlement with Carlson a settlement-and released a statement formally apologizing to Carlson for the former network CEO’s behavior toward her. What happens to your investments should Donald Trump become president?
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Van Susteren was among the Fox employees who came forward to speak on Ailes’ behalf after Carlson’s lawsuit. She said he ogled her, repeatedly commented about her legs and urged her to wear clothes that enhanced her figure.
Ailes was hired by Rupert Murdoch to create Fox News from scratch in 1996. He also said “sometimes problems are easier to solve” that way, Carlson claimed. And it is unclear whether Fox News, without Ailes at the helm, can maintain its political clout amid a disruptive election season. My Fox News colleagues have set a high standard for political coverage which I’ll do my best to uphold. Ailes allegedly called her a “man hater” and “killer” who needed to learn to “get along with the boys”. But the settlement, combined with Van Susteren’s abrupt departure, underscored the ongoing tumult inside Fox News, whose once proudly defiant newsroom has been besieged this summer by new allegations of harassment and persistent rumors about turnover in the on-air and executive ranks.
Carlson, a former Miss America, worked for several years on the “Fox & Friends” morning show, then was switched to a less-visible afternoon time slot in 2013. Her compensation was also cut and was far lower than male co-workers, Carlson said.
The lawsuit was filed in state court in Hackensack, New Jersey, under the New York City Human Rights Law, and sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Carlson named only Ailes, not Fox, as a defendant. Ailes had the case transferred to federal court.
Harder’s letter didn’t disclose the substance of their objections to the magazine’s stories.
No reasons were given for Van Susteren’s departure in the announcement, but Van Susteren posted on Facebook mid-day Tuesday that “Fox has not felt like home to me for a few years and I took advantage of the clause in my contract which allows me to leave now”. One of the company’s biggest female stars, Van Susteren had publicly denied witnessing any sexual harassment first-hand, though it wasn’t clear if her departure was related.
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