Fox News agrees to pay $12 million to settle lawsuits from former producer Abby Grossberg
Washington — Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg has settled a pair of lawsuits she filed against the network and television personality Tucker Carlson, her attorney said Friday, with the network agreeing to pay her $12 million.
Gerry Filippatos, Grossberg's attorney, said the settlement resolves claims filed against Fox News, its parent company, Carlson and the network's attorneys. A court filing from a federal district court in New York showed Grossberg voluntarily dismissed the case there, which named Fox News, Carlson and several of his producers as defendants. Though Grossberg voluntarily withdrew her case filed in Delaware in May, her lawyers indicated they intended to refile it in New York.
A spokesperson for Fox News said, "We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter without further litigation."
In one of the suits, Grossberg alleged that Fox's attorneys coerced and impermissibly coached her in preparation for her deposition in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox. She also claimed that while working at Fox, first for host Maria Bartiromo and then as head of booking for Carlson's primetime show, she endured a hostile and sexist work environment.
Grossberg was fired from the network days after filing her lawsuits, which her lawyers said was retaliatory.
The lawsuits against Fox News added to mounting legal trouble the cable news giant faced this year, chief among them being Dominion's claims that the network knowingly aired false claims about the company after the 2020 presidential election in an effort to boost its ratings.
As the trial in Dominion's case against Fox was set to begin in April, the network and company reached a deal to resolve the suit. Fox agreed to pay an historic $787.5 million to the electronic voting company.
Days after the settlement, Carlson and Fox News parted ways.
Grossberg, who joined Fox in 2019, sat for a deposition in the earlier stages of Dominion's legal battle with the network. Months later, she filed her lawsuit alleging that Fox's lawyers "coerced, intimidated, and misinformed" her while they were preparing her for deposition testimony. Grossberg went on to amend her September 2022 testimony and said she received "impermissible coaching and coercion by Fox attorneys."
Grossberg also had taped recordings of conversations Bartiromo had with conservative lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who were guests on her show "Sunday Morning Futures" and peddled false allegations about Dominion on the air. Snippets of the recordings were played in a state court proceeding in Dominion's lawsuit against Fox.
Filippatos told CBS News in April that he was contacted by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the office of the special counsel investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, about the recordings and provided details about the roughly 90 tapes Grossberg had.
In her second lawsuit, Grossberg alleged that while working on Carlson's then-primetime program, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," she endured a work environment that "subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes, typecasts religious minorities and belittles their traditions, and demonstrates little to no regard for those suffering from mental illness."
Grossberg said in a statement that she stands by the allegations made but has withdrawn the lawsuits in light of the $12 million settlement.
She said she is "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."
Fox is still facing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from another voting company, Smartmatic, filed in New York state court.