Current, former Fox News employees speak out, alleging harassment and discrimination
NEW YORK -- In the latest lawsuit against Fox News, minority employees accuse the network of racial discrimination.
Among the allegations against former comptroller Judith Slater, fired by Fox last month, are that she mocked the way they spoke and demanded that “minority employees engage in arm wrestling contests, including against some of their white female supervisors.”
Current Fox News anchor and reporter Kelly Wright came forward after his colleagues sued and joined the class action.
“I thought, ‘this is so pervasive, I’ve seen this before and I was silent, I cannot be silent any more,’” Wright said Wednesday.
The development comes after former star host Bill O’Reilly was fired over sexual harassment allegations.
The New York Times reported that O’Reilly settled several lawsuits, but in comments to podcast listeners earlier this week he said: “I’m very confident the truth will come out. When it does, I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised, but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am.”
But former temporary Fox employee Perquita Burgess, who says O’Reilly sexually harassed her, calling her “hot chocolate,” told CBS News “I want him to apologize to everyone that he has harmed with his words, his actions.”
“If there were some humility there … but there’s no humility, there’s no, ‘I’m sorry, maybe it was misconstrued, maybe you mistook my words,’ there’s none of that,” Burgess said.
“Maybe if he had said something maybe he wouldn’t have gotten fired,” she said.
An attorney for Slater said in a statement, “These frivolous charges are solely aimed at generating headlines, inflaming racial tensions and poisoning potential jury pools and judges.”
Fox News and its general counsel said they vehemently deny the claims, and O’Reilly has called claims against him “unfounded.”
