Fox Settles Another Sexual Harassment Suit
The settlement claims are still being dished out at Fox.
The NY Times reports that last month, parent company 21st Century Fox reached a settlement worth more than $2.5 million with a former Fox News contributor who reported that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at company headquarters two years ago, according to people briefed on the agreement.
The contributor, Tamara N. Holder, has said that the network executive tried to force her to perform oral sex on him in February 2015 when the two were alone in his office, according to interviews with four people briefed on her account, and documents that detail her claims. Ms. Holder did not immediately report the episode to the company or the police, fearing that doing so would ruin her career, interviews and documents show.
Holder reported her allegations to Fox News last fall. The network investigated her claims, and the executive, Francisco Cortes, the vice president for Fox News Latino, was terminated, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ms. Holder left Fox News after her contract expired on January 1, 2017.
In a rare public disclosure on Wednesday, Fox News released a joint statement with Holder saying that in September 2016 she “reported an incident of sexual assault at Fox News headquarters from the prior year.”
“Immediately after Holder notified Fox News of the alleged incident, the company promptly investigated the matter and took decisive action, for which Ms. Holder thanks the network,” the statement continued. “Fox News is grateful to Ms. Holder for her many contributions during her tenure at the network and wishes her continued success.”
In an email, Holder said: “Yes, I was sexually assaulted. Immediately after I told the company where I worked about the incident, it promptly investigated the matter and took action, which I appreciate.”
Holder has said that Cortes, who was close with Mr. Ailes, invited her into his office, shut the door, then poured shots of tequila for each of them, according to a document drafted by Ms. Holder’s lawyers that outlines her claims. A copy of the document was viewed by The Times.
Holder has said that Cortes then got out of his chair, approached her chair, held the door shut with his left hand and used his right hand to push her mouth toward his penis, which he had taken out of his pants, according to the document. Holder fled the room.
As for Cortes and his former employer shelling out millions of dollars?
Well, according to his social media, he is "Feeling great".