Summary: Fox News has asked a judge to move the Andrea Tantaros sexual harassment lawsuit to arbitration.
Fox News has some fighting words about former host, Andrea Tantaros. While the conservative network settled quickly Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against former CEO Roger Ailes, it seems as if Tantaros may be in for a bigger fight.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox News recently urged a judge to move the case to arbitration. The cable news network said that Tantaros’ contract mandates arbitration, and it went so far as to say Tantaros wanted this case in court to garner publicity and sell books.
Ouch!
Tantaros filed her lawsuit shortly after Carlson’s went public. Tantaros said that Ailes sexually harassed her, and she was retaliated against by upper management when she complained. She is not only suing Ailes but Bill Shine, Fox News’ replacement CEO; Dianne Brandi, evp of legal affairs; Irena Briganti, evp of corporate communications; and Suzanne Scott, evp of programming and development.
So far, Fox News and Tantaros haven’t been easy on each other. Fox News wrote recently in an argument that Tantaros “craves the spotlight of a public courtroom so she can get her picture in the paper yet again and hawk some copies of her book.” Tantaros said Fox News “operated like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny.”
Tantaros said that her employment agreement did not include behavior like harassment or retaliation. She submitted an affidavit from a psychologist to prove that she had complained about Ailes’ bad behavior since 2014.
Tantaros’ attorney Judd Berstein circulated that document to the press, and Fox News said this was evidence that she was an attention seeker. The network said that despite the “firestorm of publicity” Tantaros was generated, she was obligated to “honor her contractual obligation to arbitrate in confidence.”
Do you think this case will go to arbitration? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post