A third black employee of Fox News has come forward alleging racial discrimination at the hands of a now-fired Fox executive. Monica Douglas, the manager for the Credit and Collections department at Fox, has been added to a lawsuit filed last week by two other current Fox employees, Tichaona Brown and Tabrese Wright.
Lawyers say Douglas “has courageously chosen to speak out against the discriminatory conduct committed” by Judith Slater, a 19-year Fox News employee who was let go Feb. 28 (and publicly revealed March 24.)
Among the new accusations: that Slater “constantly expressed an unwillingness to even be near black people;” that she “complained that Ms. Douglas has ‘black eyes’ as opposed to the ‘Aryan race,’ who have blue eyes and blonde hair; and that she “openly ridiculed Ms. Douglas’s accent, including in front of other Fox employees.”
The suit also claims that “on at least two occasions, Slater actually kicked Ms. Douglas in the buttocks as she walked down the hall.” Douglas, a breast cancer survivor, was also subjected to ridicule: “Your boobs look like they are different sizes – oh, that’s right, you only have one boob,” Slater is alleged to have said, according to the suit.
In Nov. 2014, Douglas complained to EVP of business and legal affairs Dianne Brandi about Slater’s actions, the suit alleges. “Nothing was done, and the discrimination continued.”
In mid-2015, Brandi contacted Ms. Douglas regarding a complaint about Slater that she had received from the former Director of Payroll, Natasha Beekharry. In response to Brandi’s inquiry, Ms. Douglas again complained about Slater’s discriminatory conduct. Again, nothing was done. Instead, Brandi declared that (despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and without conducting any investigation) she did not believe Slater to be racist. Brandi also said: “Slater will not be fired because she knows too much,” referring to Slater’s knowledge regarding improprieties committed by former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and former Fox News CFO Mark Kranz.
“We take complaints of this nature very seriously and took prompt and effective remedial action in terminating Judy Slater before Ms. Brown, Ms. Wright and Ms. Douglas sued in court and even before Ms. Wright and Ms. Douglas complained through their lawyer,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. “There is no place for conduct like this at Fox News, which is why Ms. Slater was fired.”