New accusations against former Fox News
head Ailes in lawsuit
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[December 14, 2016]
(Reuters) - New sexual harassment
accusations against former Fox News network chief Roger Ailes were
revealed in a lawsuit filed against 21st Century Fox on Monday.
The lawsuit comes just months after Fox News agreed to pay $20 million
to settle separate allegations of sexual harassment of female staff at
Fox News by Ailes.
The federal discrimination lawsuit filed in New York alleges that Ailes
offered Lidia Curanaj, whose legal name is Lidija Ujkic, an interview to
join the Fox News Network after meeting her at a dinner in 2011.
After being interviewed in a group setting, Ailes invited her to a
private interview, the complaint said. He then told her it was
"important [for female talent] to look good from head to toe," and asked
her to stand and turn around for him.
The suit also alleged that Ailes later contacted a man Curanaj
previously dated asking if she would "put out" sexually. The man told
Ailes she likely would not, the suit said, after which she was turned
down for the job.
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An attorney for Ailes could not be immediately reached to comment on the
accusations, though he has consistently denied similar sexual harassment
allegations.
Curanaj's lawsuit does not name Ailes or Fox News as a defendant, but
rather alleges gender, age, race and pregnancy discrimination on the
part of her employer, New York Fox TV station WNYW.
The suit claims that when Curanaj confronted the station's news director
about not being promoted to anchor despite her journalistic experience
and successes, he replied she was "not attractive enough to be an
anchor."
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![](../images/121416pics/news_k17.jpg)
Roger Ailes answers questions during a panel discussion at the
Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena,
California July 24, 2006. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
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A spokeswoman for Fox TV Stations, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox
<FOXA.O>, said in an emailed statement, "We do not think the
plaintiff's claims have merit, and we intend to defend vigorously."
Fox News in September agreed to pay $20 million to settle a sexual
harassment lawsuit brought by former anchor Gretchen Carlson. A
subsequent internal investigation of the company turned up more than
two dozen women who described harassment by Ailes, according to New
York Magazine.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Andrew
Hay)
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