Judge Dismisses Claims Against Fox News in Assault Case

As a devoted fan, I’m sharing that a federal judge recently threw out allegations against Fox News Channel in a sensational assault case involving a former associate producer and a former correspondent. The ruling stated that the management of this cable news network was unaware of any conflict or relationship between the two until they were informed she had filed sexual harassment charges against him, having no prior knowledge whatsoever.

Last year, I made a motion for summary judgment in the case involving Jennifer Eckhart, who accused my network, Fox News, of workplace rape by their former correspondent, Ed Henry. Henry was terminated from our outlet, Fox Corp.-supported news channel, in 2020 after an investigation into allegations of “willful sexual misconduct.” Eckhart initially filed her lawsuit against me in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in July of 2020. A lawyer for Henry has previously stated that Eckhart had actively initiated and encouraged a consensual relationship with him. However, it’s important to note that Fox News terminated Eckhart before she made her allegations against Henry.

In the initial lawsuit, Eckhart claimed that Henry, who was previously a host on “America’s Newsroom,” the network’s mid-morning news program, had inappropriately groomed and emotionally manipulated Ms. Eckhart, forcing her into a sexual relationship against her will. Furthermore, she alleged that when she refused consensually, he sexually assaulted her at work and raped her at a hotel often used by Fox News for accommodating its temporary staff members.

Fox News, however, said it acted on Eckhart’s allegations as soon as they were made.

In a statement made on Wednesday, Judge Ronnie Abrams explained that there’s no proof Fox News knew about Henry’s alleged harassment of Eckhart prior to the event. Eckhart admitted she didn’t inform anyone at the network about their relationship until after her termination in mid-2020. Regarding accusations that Fox News was aware of Henry’s affairs with other female employees, the judge determined that although Fox News eventually found out about Henry’s extramarital relationships, many of these were not known until after Eckhart and Henry’s final encounter in 2017. The judge further stated that since there is no evidence that Fox News learned about these affairs before April 2017 or later, a reasonable jury could not conclude that they were warned about Henry’s potential assault on Eckhart.

The judge rejected accusations that Henry was involved in “revenge porn” against Eckhart, but permitted allegations of “gender-based violence, assault, battery, sex trafficking, and harassment” to persist and continue in the trial. In more recent news, Henry has appeared on Newsmax, a well-known conservative news platform.

Read More

2025-03-13 01:46