FOX Fox Corporation

By Joe Flint 

Fox News Channel called claims by former on-air personality Andrea Tantaros that she was sexually harassed by former network chief Roger Ailes a "smokescreen to obscure her violation of her employment contract."

Ms. Tantaros "is not a victim, she's an opportunist," Fox News said in a court filing Monday.

Fox News was responding to a suit Ms. Tantaros filed in New York State Supreme Court last week in which she said she was punished for accusing Mr. Ailes, the former Fox News chairman and chief executive, of harassing her in 2015. She also accused his associates of condoning his actions and harming her career.

Mr. Ailes resigned last month after Fox News parent 21st Century Fox launched a probe into allegations against him of sexual harassment. The investigation came after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Mr. Ailes, alleging he didn't renew her contract after she rebuffed his advances. Mr. Ailes has denied all accusations against him of harassment.

As retaliation for rebuffing Mr. Ailes's advances, Ms. Tantaros said, Fox News removed her from "The Five," the afternoon political chat show on which she was a panelist.

Fox News countered that it suspended Ms. Tantaros last spring for writing and publishing a book without first getting permission and submitting the manuscript for review as required by her contract. The network went on to say Ms. Tantaros is nothing more than a "wannabe" pretending to be a victim of Mr. Ailes "when, in fact contrary to her pleading, she never complained of any such conduct."

In her suit, Ms. Tantaros said she had followed procedures regarding her book and that she was benched because she had spoken out against Mr. Ailes. Fox News denied Ms. Tantaros ever made any official or unofficial complaint regarding Mr. Ailes.

Rupert Murdoch became acting chief executive of Fox News after Mr. Ailes resigned July 21. Mr. Murdoch is executive chairman of both 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp. The two companies, which split in 2013, each count the Murdoch family as a major shareholder.

In its filing, Fox News argued that per Ms. Tantaros's contract, all claims must be settled in arbitration. Fox News said it had already filed a demand for arbitration with Ms. Tantaros in May because of the book.

In a separate court filing Monday, Mr. Ailes also sought arbitration to resolve Ms. Tantaros's suit.

Judd Burstein, an attorney for Ms. Tantaros, said in a statement that "Fox's right to arbitrate is a legal issue on which I am confident Ms. Tantaros will prevail." If Fox News executives are innocent, "why do they want this dispute to be resolved in the shadows?" he said.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 30, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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