Among the complaints: a colleague made them watch “a video of a transgender woman describing sexual acts in graphic language.”
While we’ve all been focused on sexual harassment complaints about Fox News by former hosts Gretchen Carlson and Andrea Tantaros (among others), three hair and makeup artists filed a similar legal complaint in relative obscurity. But it deserves attention if only for further proof of how the culture of sexism and harassment has permeated throughout the company.
From LawNewz:
In their complaint with the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], the women say one of their male colleagues harassed them including calling them “bitches” and “girls.” The complaint reads: The Company’s Human Resources Department will confirm that on June 24, 2014, Mr. Stenson (their male colleague) displayed on his iPad a video of a transgender woman describing sexual acts in graphic language to Ms. Jemmott, Ms. Walsh and Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of the on-air personalities at Fox News. It appears though this was reported to HR, no disciplinary action was taken against Mr. Stenson.
…
Fox News apparently fired the three women for misconduct, including sending “threatening” text messages. However, the women claim their terminations were unjust, discriminatory and retaliatory. Lena Jemmott, who also filed the federal lawsuit, claims she was also subject to race and religious discrimination because she is Black and a Muslim. She claims Fox News fired her and called her a “ticking time bomb” who was “mentally unstable.”
According to LawNewz, one of the three claims, that of Lena Jemmott, has been sent to mediation.
But regardless of the legal merits of any of the cases, the complaint is very damning about the culture of harassment and intimidation at Fox News. That’s a constant in the allegations that have come out about Fox since Carlson’s lawsuit.
Read it below:
Photo by Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia (News Corporation Headquarters) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Correction: This post originally said that the three women had sued Fox, indicating a different kind of legal proceeding.
Complaint from Makeup Artists by LawNewz on Scribd
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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