A reporter at Fox-owned WNYW has filed suit claiming the former chairman of Fox News, Roger Ailes harassed her when she was being considered for a job at the Fox News Channel.
The New York Times reports Lidia Curanaj filed a 28-page discrimination and hostile work environment suit against Fox News Channel’s parent company:
According to the complaint, Mr. Ailes asked her to stand up and turn around during a one-on-one interview, so that he could “see [her] from behind.”
Advertisement“I like what I see,” Mr. Ailes then said, the suit asserts. Ms. Curanaj left the interview thinking she would land a job offer, according to the suit.
The Times reports Curanaj met Ailes at a 2011 dinner she attended with Gregory Ball, whom she had dated:
After his private meeting with Ms. Curanaj, Mr. Ailes contacted Mr. Ball and asked him, “How’s the sex?” and whether she “put out” sexually, according to the suit. Mr. Ball described Ms. Curanaj as a “very nice girl,” signaling that she would not provide sexual favors to Mr. Ailes.
Shortly after, Ms. Curanaj received a call from Mr. Ailes, who told her that she was not ready for Fox News and that she instead should contact Fox’s local stations, she says in the suit. Ms. Curanaj believed that she did not “receive the position at F.N.C. because Ailes determined that she would not submit to him sexually,” the suit states.
A spokesperson for Fox Television Stations tells TVSpy “we do not think the plaintiff’s claims have merit, and we intend to defend vigorously.”