|
 Fox in a filing in New York state court in Manhattan also
said Tantaros signed an agreement to keep employment-related
disputes out of court and asked a judge to send her Aug. 22
lawsuit to arbitration.
Tantaros in her lawsuit says she was taken off the air in April
in retaliation for rebuffing Ailes' advances and complaining to
top officials at Fox News, a unit of Twenty-First Century Fox
Inc <FOXA.O>.
The network on Monday denied the claims, saying Tantaros was
taking advantage of the publicity surrounding a sexual
harassment lawsuit filed against Ailes in July by former Fox
News anchor Gretchen Carlson that led to the chairman's
resignation.
"Tantaros's (lawsuit) bears all the hallmarks of the 'wannabe,'"
the network's lawyers wrote in the filing.
Fox says Tantaros lost her on-air spot because she wrote a book,
"Tied Up In Knots: How Getting What We Wanted Made Women
Miserable," and promoted it on the channel without
authorization.
The book was released on April 26 by HarperCollins.
A lawyer for Tantaros did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
[to top of second column] |
Tantaros in the lawsuit says Ailes, beginning in 2011, made numerous
comments about her appearance and asked her to "twirl" for him. She
said senior executive William Shine, who was promoted to
co-president when Ailes resigned, and the company's top in-house
lawyer dismissed complaints about Ailes.
Carlson's lawsuit against Ailes makes similar harassment
allegations, but unlike Tantaros she did not claim she was silenced
by other Fox executives and did not sue the company. Carlson's
lawsuit prompted Fox to hire a prominent New York law firm to
conduct an internal investigation.
On Monday, Fox News said Tantaros initially avoided speaking with
investigators and eventually told them she could not recall any
specific sexually-charged statements by Ailes.
Separately, lawyers for Ailes have said they plan to move to have
Carlson's lawsuit in federal court in New Jersey sent to arbitration
as well.
The case is Tantaros v. Fox News Network LLC, New York State Supreme
Court, New York County, No. 157054/2016.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
