| McHenry Sued
Fox News and Tyrus After Frozen Out Of
Watters World
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 25 – In late 2019
Brittany McHenry filed a
sexual harassment and
retaliation lawsuit against
Fox New, Fox Corporation,
George Murdoch a/k/a Tyrus and
the others. On
September 25 U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Paul A. Engelmayer held an
oral argument on a partial
motion to dismiss. Inner City
Press live tweeted it, here:
Fox's lawyer
points back to a time it was
called "21st Century Fox."
Judge Engelmayer: When I grew
up, it was 20th Century Fox...
Which I guess is better than
19th Century Fox. Fox
Corp is moving to get out of
the case, leaving Fox News in
(while disputing facts)
Fox's lawyer: She
doesn't allege details of how
she was hired, does not bring
in 21CF.. Judge Engelmayer:
Got it. Let me ask you about
Monica Mekeel, listed as SVP
for both Fox News *and* Fox
Corp. Fox's lawyer: That's not
enough to plead single
employer.
Judge Engelmayer:
Was she wearing both hats?
Fox's lawyer: It's not pled
clearly enough. And Ms. Mekeel
wasn't made aware of the
alleged harassment early
enough. Judge Engelmayer: If
the behavior of Mister
[George] Murdoch is not
attributable to either Fox...
Fox's lawyer: She
hasn't alleged anything
specific about John Finley...
And saying that Mekeel asked
her what she'd done to trigger
this from Mr. Murdoch is not
enough under the applicable
law. Inner City Press
Judge Engelmayer
asks about the Amended
Complaint's statement that
"Ms. McHenry used to regularly
appear on Fox News Channel's
'Watters' World,' but has not
been booked since her
complaint (despite
communications from bookers
that they wanted her to
appear)."
Fox's lawyer:
There are a lot of people who
work on these shows. Judge
Engelmayer: But Jen Rauchet is
the executive producer...
Let's walk about Ms. Mekeel.
Doesn't she own this problem,
such as it is? Didn't she have
an affirmative duty? And Ms
McHenry got iced
Fox's lawyer: the
investigation was taken away
from Mekeel, to an outside
investigator, as Ms. McHenry's
request. [Argument by
Kristina Yost of Jones Day for
Fox is over. Now Thomas Clare
for George Murdoch / Tyrus -
he says, Tyrus was NOT her
employer
Tyrus' lawyer:
They were co-hosts,
co-workers. Judge Engelmayer,
quoting from the complaint:
But he said, Your picture
looks so good, I could knock
it up. And he grabbed her hand
in Times Square. Tyrus'
lawyer: That doesn't show it
was unwanted.
As the argument
proceeds, this from the
Amended Complaint at Para 74:
"On November 5, 2018, Mr.
Murdoch texted Ms. McHenry,
'I'll show you what it means
to be bad Brittany Mc Henry //
D*ck pic coming in 5 sec!!!'"
Judge Engelmayer:
Doesn't this cross the
line? DP alert:
Judge Engelmayer just said,
without the asterisk, "Di*k
pic," asks about "You'll need
those legs to escape from me
to Montana" - doesn't that
imply no consent? Tyrus'
lawyer: There's not a lot I
can say. Judge Engelmayer:
We'll see where the case goes.
Now Ms McHenry's
lawyer is up. Judge Engelmayer
asks him how it is possibly
retaliatory to ask to see all
the text messages. "What have
you done to provoke Mr.
Murdoch"- are you saying that
is retaliation? McHenry's
lawyer: It's victim-blaming.
It's discriminatory
Judge Engelmayer:
But how can you claim Ms.
Mekeel aided and abetted
harassment, and not just
retaliation? McHenry's lawyer:
She did nothing to stop
it. Judge Engelmayer:
What about Finley? It's just a
cameo appearance. McHenry's
lawyer: He was the VP...
Judge Engelmayer,
to McHenry's lawyer: Why did
you include Fox Corp and not
just Fox News? A: You never
know. Judge Engelmayer: That's
not the pleading standard. And
why do you argument that the
new amendment applies
retroactively? A: I don't have
cases on that.
This McHenry v.
Fox argument is over. Judge
Engelmayer: I'm taking it
under submission. I wish you
all well, and I know I will be
seeing you down the road. We
are adjourned.
The case is
McHenry v. Fox News Networks,
LLC et al., 19-cv-11294
(Engelmayer)
***
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