Ex-Fox News employee accuses former anchor Ed Henry of rape
neW yorK (los angeles times/tns) – Fox news is once again confronting allegations of sexual misconduct by its senior news staff.
a former Fox news employee and a guest allege in a federal lawsuit that they were subjected to a range of sexually inappropriate behavior by ex-anchor ed henry and two of the channel’s biggest stars, tucker Carlson and sean hannity.
the suit filed monday in us district Court by jennifer eckhart, who worked at the network from 2014 to 2020, and Cathy areu, an occasional unpaid guest on the network, alleges that Fox news protected and rewarded “perpetrators of sexual harassment and refuses to take accountability for putting such persons in positions of power from which they can subject women to sexual misconduct.”
the suit also said eckhart, whose complaint led to the firing of henry, was raped by the former anchor in a new york hotel room in 2017.
the complaints come after Fox news had revamped its human-resources department and stated a commitment to creating a safe workplace for employees after a prolonged sexual-harassment scandal that ended the tenures of the channel’s founding chief executive, roger ailes, and former prime-time anchor Bill o’reilly.
In 2016, Fox news paid $20 million to former anchor Gretchen Carlson, whose lawsuit charging ailes with harassment is considered ground zero in the #metoo movement.
the suit on behalf of the women, represented by douglas Wigdor, who has handled numerous harassment and racial-discrimination cases against Fox news, said: “some of the names in leadership may have changed since roger ailes’s regime, but Fox news’ institutional apathy towards sexual misconduct has not.”
Fox news said in a statement that it fired henry shortly after eckhart filed a complaint. the company said the allegations against other employees named in the suit were investigated and found to be baseless. eckhart left Fox news in mid-june.
the most explosive allegation in the suit is eckhart’s allegation that henry “psychologically manipulated and coerced” her into having a sexual relationship with him. she said that when she would not comply voluntarily, “he sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox news frequently lodged its visiting employees.”
eckhart, a former production associate for Fox Business network, detailed henry’s actions – including the alleged 2017 rape – when she filed a complaint with the company on june 25. Fox news disclosed july 1 that henry was fired for what the company described as “willful sexual misconduct.”
a Fox news representative said eckhart was told to pursue the rape claim directly with henry as the incident did not happen on company premises.
a representative for Wigdor declined to say whether eckhart filed a criminal complaint against henry.
henry’s attorney, Catherine Foti, could not be reached for comment. on july 1, she said henry “denies the allegations referenced in the Fox announcement and is confident that he will be vindicated after a full hearing in an appropriate forum.”