If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ve probably seen the shakeup at Fox News over allegations of sexual harassment. First, CEO Roger Ailes stepped down and now 21st Century Fox will pay out $20 million to Gretchen Carlson, a former on air anchor at the cable news outlet. Carlson came forward and claimed that she was sexually harassed at the company, particularly by Ailes. In her complaint, she accused Ailes of not renewing her contract after she refused to sleep with him and claimed that there was a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at her workplace.
She wasn’t the first to level such allegations. Dating back to the 70s and 80s, Ailes has been accused of questionable behavior. More recently, Megyn Kelly stepped forward to say that she had experienced sexual harassment at Fox News as well.
21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, will pay Carlson $20 million in the settlement and has issued a formal apology, stating, “We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve.”
For adversaries of sexual harassment in the workplace, the settlement is a victory that may serve as an example to other organizations that sexually charged behavior has no place in a professional environment.
If you feel you’ve experienced sexual harassment at the workplace, you may want to consider speaking with an employment attorney. He or she can look at your case and may be able to help you file a sexual harassment claim.
Source: usatoday.com, “Fox settles Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes for $20M,” Roger Yu, September 6, 2016
