Fox News has agreed to pay $12 million to Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer who had accused the community of working a hostile and discriminatory office and of coercing her into offering false testimony in a deposition.
Parisis G. Filippatos, a lawyer for Ms. Grossberg, mentioned that the settlement concluded all of Ms. Grossberg’s claims in opposition to Fox and the individuals she had named in her complaints, which included the previous host Tucker Carlson and a few of his producers.
Ms. Grossberg’s authorized crew filed a request within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday to dismiss a remaining lawsuit in opposition to Fox in mild of the settlement.
Ms. Grossberg mentioned in a press release on Friday that she stood by her allegations, however she was “heartened that Fox News has taken me and my legal claims seriously.”
“I am hopeful, based on our discussions with Fox News today, that this resolution represents a positive step by the network regarding its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace,” she mentioned.
A spokeswoman for Fox mentioned in a press release on Friday: “We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter without further litigation.”
Justin Wells, a former senior govt producer for Mr. Carlson, who was named in a grievance, mentioned in a put up on Twitter: “We deny Ms. Grossberg’s claims and allegations against Tucker Carlson and his team. Nevertheless, we are glad that Fox has settled this matter and that all sides can move forward.”
The settlement with Ms. Grossberg is the most recent growth in a sequence of authorized battles involving Fox. In April, the corporate paid Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million, in what’s believed to be the most important settlement determine in a defamation case. Days later, Fox took Tucker Carlson, its hottest host, off the air after the corporate’s management concluded he was extra of an issue than an asset and needed to go.
Fox faces a second defamation case by one other voting expertise firm. Smartmatic, like Dominion, says Fox knowingly unfold false details about its merchandise, baselessly claiming that they contributed to election fraud in 2020.
The accusations in opposition to Fox by Ms. Grossberg, 42, sprung partly from the Dominion case. In March, she filed a lawsuit in Delaware, claiming that Fox coerced her into mendacity in sworn testimony she gave within the case. Ms. Grossberg amended her witness testimony forward of the Dominion trial, presenting one other hurdle for Fox’s authorized crew, which had already been dealt a sequence of blows in pretrial rulings.
Ms. Grossberg additionally filed a separate lawsuit in New York that accused Fox and Mr. Carlson of permitting a tradition of rampant misogyny and sexual harassment. She mentioned she had been subjected to sexist and antisemitic harassment throughout her time as the top of reserving on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Fox fired Ms. Grossberg 4 days after she filed the 2 lawsuits, saying in a press release on the time that she had disclosed privileged details about the Dominion case. She withdrew the Delaware go well with in May, however her lawyer mentioned on the time that they deliberate to refile in New York.
Ms. Grossberg joined Fox News in 2019 as a senior producer for the host Maria Bartiromo. In August 2022, she moved to Mr. Carlson’s crew as the top of reserving.
In her lawsuit, Ms. Grossberg mentioned she discovered a office tainted by misogyny and harassment, the place male producers had been brazenly sexist to her and her co-workers, made crude jokes and had adorned the area with pictures of Nancy Pelosi, then the House speaker, in a swimsuit exhibiting cleavage.
Ms. Grossberg by no means met Mr. Carlson, who labored largely from his properties in Florida and Maine, however she corresponded with him often over e-mail, textual content and video calls. Mr. Carlson’s employees in New York was led by Mr. Wells, the senior govt producer. (Mr. Wells was fired by Fox in April.)
After submitting her lawsuits, Ms. Grossberg drip-fed audio recordings from her time at Fox to different media organizations. The recordings confirmed, amongst different issues, Mr. Carlson’s immense affect on the Republican Party; an admission by Rudy Giuliani, lawyer to former President Donald J. Trump, that he didn’t have proof of voter fraud; and discussions between Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ms. Bartiromo about his makes an attempt to dam President Biden’s election victory.
Mr. Filippatos, the lawyer for Ms. Grossberg, confirmed that he had been contacted by the workplace of the particular counsel investigating Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and that he and his consumer had been cooperating. At least 90 tapes had been retrieved and Ms. Grossberg’s authorized crew was forensically analyzing all of Ms. Grossberg’s units in case there have been any further recordings, Mr. Filippatos mentioned.
Ms. Grossberg mentioned that she wouldn’t remark additional on her accusations in opposition to Fox or her time on the firm, however would “continue to speak out on issues and causes that I believe in, including journalism, equality, dignity and respect in the workplace.”
Source: www.nytimes.com