Two Black Women Sue Fox News, Claiming Racial Discrimination -- Update
March 29 2017 - 3:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Two black women have filed a lawsuit against Fox News Channel,
its parent company 21st Century Fox and a former senior executive
at the cable network alleging racial discrimination.
Tichaona Brown and Tabrese Wright worked in the payroll
department for the cable news channel and allege that for years
they were subject to racial slurs and insults by Judith Slater, the
longtime comptroller of Fox News.
In a complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court in Bronx
County, the two said they "suffered yearslong relentless racial
animus at the hands of their white supervisor." Ms. Slater, the
suit alleges, peppered her conversations with Ms. Brown and Ms.
Wright with remarks about racist stereotypes, creating a hostile
work environment.
A Fox News spokeswoman called the suit "needless litigation"
since the company had dismissed Ms. Slater on Feb. 28. She said the
network "takes complaints of this nature very seriously and took
prompt and effective remedial action" adding "there is no place for
inappropriate verbal remarks like this at Fox News."
The complaint cites examples of racist remarks including Ms.
Slater asking Ms. Wright if her children were all fathered by the
same man and telling Ms. Brown that blacks routinely mispronounce
words. According to the suit, Ms. Slater once asked Ms. Brown to
say certain words including "ask," "mother" and "father" out loud
in a meeting.
Ms. Slater, who had been employed at Fox News for almost 20
years, declined to comment.
Ms. Brown and Ms. Wright say in the suit that their complaints
about Ms. Slater's behavior were long ignored and Fox News only
dismissed her after the network learned of their plans to file a
lawsuit.
"To be clear, Ms. Slater was not terminated because she engaged
in discriminatory conduct -- Fox was willing to let her get away
with that for years. Rather, Slater was terminated because Fox knew
this would become a public matter and wanted to salvage its
reputation," the suit says.
The Fox News spokeswoman said the company "took the appropriate
action in investigating and firing Ms. Slater within two weeks of
this being brought to our attention."
The suit also claims that Ms. Brown was fired and Ms. Wright
demoted. Fox News countered in a statement that Ms. Brown is still
employed although she has tendered a resignation effective April
30. Ms. Wright was transferred to another finance division at the
company with the same title, salary and benefits, the network said,
since her suit involves the division she had been working in.
The firm representing Ms. Brown and Ms. Wright said it stood by
its suit.
News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, and 21st Century
Fox share common ownership.
The suit is the latest legal headache for Fox News and 21st
Century Fox. The company is still dealing with the fallout from
complaints from multiple women who say they were sexually harassed
by Fox News' former chairman and chief executive, Roger Ailes, who
resigned last July in the midst of a probe into his behavior. Mr.
Ailes has denied the harassment accusations.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether the company made
insufficient disclosures about settlements of harassment claims.
21st Century Fox has said it is cooperating with the investigation,
which is being spearheaded by the Southern District of New York.
Former Fox News Chief Financial Officer Mark Kranz was offered
immunity in return for cooperating with the probe, a person
familiar with the matter said. Mr. Kranz didn't respond to requests
for comment. The Financial Times reported earlier this week that
Mr. Kranz had been offered immunity.
In November, 21st Century Fox disclosed it had paid $35 million
in settlements related to Mr. Ailes during the most recent quarter.
The bulk of that was a $20 million settlement to former on-air
talent Gretchen Carlson whose suit against Mr. Ailes in July
sparked a probe by the company into Mr. Ailes' conduct.
There have been additional settlements involving other Fox News
employees and on-air talent since then. In January, Fox News
settled a harassment claim made by former on-air talent Juliet
Huddy against anchor Bill O'Reilly and Fox News Co-President Jack
Abernethy. The network has said the claims are false and that both
men "vehemently denied" them.
Last month, Fox News paid a settlement of close to $3 million to
former on-air contributor Tamara Holder who alleged that a senior
executive -- Francisco Cortes -- sexually assaulted her. He was
terminated after Ms. Holder made a complaint. At the time, his
lawyer said Mr. Cortes was considering his legal options.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 29, 2017 14:45 ET (18:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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