Fox News pays record-breaking $1m fine for ‘wanton violations’ of NYC human rights law

The city human rights commission launched the complaint process in December 2018, following allegations of sexual misconduct against top figures at the network

Fox News has agreed to pay a record-breaking $1 million fine to New York City’s human rights commission, for what the watchdog said was a “pattern of violating of the NYC Human Rights Law”, as the network struggles to reform itself amid accusations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace culture in recent years.

As part of the settlement, the cable news behemoth will significantly curtail its use of mandatory confidential arbitration, contractual clauses which alleged victims of harassment said was used to silence complaints against former top figures at the channel like former chairman Roger Ailes.

The commission also demanded “immediate changes to policies surrounding reporting sexual harassment, retaliation, training, and compliance with the NYC Human Rights Law”, it said in a statement, and will monitor the network for two years to ensure compliance. Employees will be trained on how to identify “retaliation” against those reporting misconduct, and how to intervene in and report problems they encounter directly, according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the news on Tuesday.

“We are pleased to reach an amicable resolution of this legacy matter,” the network told The Independent in a statement. “FOX News Media has already been in full compliance across the board, but cooperated with the New York City Commission on Human Rights to continue enacting extensive preventive measures against all forms of discrimination and harassment.”

Nancy Erika Smith, a labour lawyer who represented former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson in her $20 million harassment and retaliation suit against Ailes, celebrated the news of the fine. “I’m not aware of any government agency requiring an employer to stop silencing victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and that’s what NDAs and arbitration do—they silence victims,” she told The Daily Beast. “So bravo! Finally! The government is seeing that silencing victims protects harassers.”

The commission said it began its investigation into the network in July of 2016, following Ms Carlson’s lawsuit and other accusations of misconduct and harassment against Ailes, before filing a formal complaint in December of 2018. The conservative news network became one of the centers of the #MeToo movement, as numerous women accused Ailes and former host Bill O’Reilly of sexual harassment. Following Ms Carlson’s lawsuit, Ailes resigned in 2016 from the network and received a $40 million severance.

The network stuck by O’Reilly longer, even as he reached settlements with five women over alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour, before he too was forced out in 2017. All told, there are at least six settlement involving Mr O’Reilly over alleged harassment and abuse, totaling nearly $45 million.

Fox News insisted that human rights fine, which was agreed to last week, was a “legacy matter” reflecting past problems rather than current policy at the network.