For violations of rules protecting against sexual harassment and workplace retaliation, the New York City Commission on Human Rights fined Fox News $1 million, the biggest penalty in its history.
Fox agreed to enforce anti-harassment training for its New York-based personnel and contributors as part of a settlement agreement announced Tuesday, and to temporarily eliminate a policy forcing those who report misbehavior to join binding arbitration.
The penalty derives from an investigation that began in 2017 in response to various accusations of “rampant abuse” at the popular news and opinion outlet, according to the commission.
The first sign of trouble at the channel came in 2016, when former anchor Gretchen Carlson claimed that now-deceased network leader Roger Ailes had made unwelcome approaches on her and wrecked her career when she turned him down.
Both Ailes and former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly were fired as a result of misbehavior claims.
Several more women, including former Fox presenter Megyn Kelly, have filed lawsuits and made charges of sexual harassment.
The $1 million charge was divided into four separate “willful and wanton” breaches, each with a maximum penalty of $250,000.
The commission would not say who was involved in those cases or whether there were others.
The cases, according to Fox, are the result of a former administration, and the network has cleaned up its act under the supervision of Suzanne Scott, the current CEO of Fox News Media.
Because the commission refused to reveal who it interviewed as part of its probe, it was unable to verify whether any of the cases occurred after Scott took over in 2018.
According to the results, Fox News “ensured that those who have complained have no future” at the network.
Aside from the training requirement, the commission stated that Fox must maintain an anonymous hotline for employees to report harassment or job reprisal. Fox’s compliance will be audited four times over the following two years by outside inspectors.
The commission has filed 521 cases of gender-based workplace harassment since 2017, awarding $4.5 million in damages and penalties.
