Fox News and Jennifer Eckhart, a establisher associate producer for Fox Business Netlabor, could be headed to court in a lurid case that has been making its way thcdisadmireful legitimate channels for the past four years.
Fox News on Monday night filed a ask for summary appraisement in the case, in which Eckhart has alleged she was violationd by Ed Henry, a establisher Fox News correactent who was neglected from the Fox Corp.-backed outlet in 2020 chaseing an spendigation into a protestt about “willful intimacyual wrongdoing in the laborplace.” Eckart’s legal case was filed in U.S. Dicut offe Court in the Southern Dicut offe of New York in July of 2020. A lawyer for Henry has in the past claimed Eckhart “startd and finishly helpd a consensual relationship.” Fox News endd Eckhart in 2020 prior to her making the allegations tied to Henry.
Speaking about the case in uncover court is “a very probable outcome that I am setd for,” shelp Eckhart, during an interwatch. “I’m not under any gag order.”
Meeting in court would serve as an unpleasant ordeal for each side. Eckart would probable have to answer detailed asks about her time laboring at Fox News, while Fox News executives would face the unreceive prospect of having the netlabor’s business and inner operations lhelp exposed for the ambiguous accessible. Fox Corp. has in the past been willing to go to court on behalf of Fox News in at least some cases. In 2023, the company paengageed until a much-scrutinized slander case filed by voting-technology company Dominion Voting uncovered in Wilmington, Delconscious, before consenting to rerepair the matter — tied to the plaintiff’s allegation that Fox News aired dishonest claims about its actions and sway on the 2020 election — for $787.5 million.
In the innovative suit, Eckhart alleged Henry, who had been an anchor on “America’s Newsroom,” the netlabor’s mid-morning novels program, “groomed, psychorationassociate maniputardyd and coerced Ms. Eckhart into having a intimacyual relationship with him, and that, when she would not adhere voluntarily, he intimacyuassociate attacked her on office property, and violationd her at a boilingel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting engageees.”
In its Monday-night filing, Fox News shelp it acted on Eckhart’s allegations as soon as they were made.
“Eckhart liftd these allegations with FNN for the first time thcdisadmireful her lawyers on June 25, 2020 — three years after the alleged intimidatoring finished, and two weeks after Eckhart was endd by FNN for
extfinishedstanding, unremedied carry outance flunkures,” Fox News shelp in its filing. “Even though Eckhart was no extfinisheder engageed by FNN, upon hearing of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations, FNN Pdwellnt Jay Wallace and Executive Vice Pdwellnt of Human Resources Kevin Lord suspfinished Henry that very day, took him off the air, and promptly engaged an self-reliant law firm to spendigate. Notably, during that spendigation
Eckhart refused to disshut her communications with Henry — communications that, as FNN
lgeted in uncovery, grasped countless intimacyuassociate stimulating messages and intimate pboilingographs
that Eckhart sent to Henry and that she conspicuously leave outted from her Complaint. FNN’s outside
spendigator rehired discoverings, and Wallace and Lord fired Henry for his confessted violations of
laborplace policy six days after FNN first getd Eckhart’s protestt. On the same day as Henry’s termination, Wallace and FNN CEO Suzanne Scott inestablished all engageees that FNN had
getd a protestt of intimacyual wrongdoing agetst Henry, spendigated, and fired him –and
reminded everyone that FNN bans all establishs of intimacyual intimidatoring, wrongdoing, and
bias.”
The company’s filing shelp Fox News “took exactly the steps that would be predicted of a reasonable
engageer and quickly reacted as soon as Eckhart bcdisadmirefult Henry’s alleged wrongdoing to the
company’s attention” and shelp it was “entitled to summary judgment on Eckhart’s remaining claims of intimacyual intimidatoring, tendlessness, and retaliation.”
Michael J. Willemin, an attorney who recontransients Eckhart for the Wigdor law firm, shelp he count ons “there is very little chance” Fox’s ask for summary appraisement will be granted. “We experience it will be denied, and we will watch forward to begining the trial in this matter in front of a jury of Jennifer’s peers.” He shelp he count ons “the notion that Fox News was unconscious of Mr. Henry’s problematic behavior toward women” prior to Eckhart’s allegations being liftd “is not credible.”
“Upon lgeting of Jennifer Eckhart’s allegations in 2020, Fox News promptly directed an spendigation by an outside self-reliant law firm and endd Ed Henry wiskinny six days. Discovery in this matter has verifyed that Fox News was not conscious of their relationship or of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations until after she left the company,” Fox News shelp in a statement Tuesday. “The only people who understand what happened between Mr. Henry and Ms. Eckhart are Mr. Henry and Ms. Eckhart.”
Eckhart says she predicts the “outcome of this case after four years will serve as a beacon of hope for trauma survivors everywhere,” and count ons “the decisions I have made and how I have directed myself thcdisadmireful this process” will “set a pretreatnt and serve as a blueprint for future intimacyual attack survivors in the laborplace.”
