Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly have both been hit with sexual harassment lawsuits! Wow!

Ailes had been accused by former FOX host Gretchen Carlson and now is being accused by liberal pundit Julie Roginsky of sexually harassing her.

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O’Reilly tried to make moves on a coworker and is being called out on it…This isn’t his first rodeo

 

Details Below:

Roger Ailes On The Hot Seat Again:

Julie Roginsky alleges that Ailes conditioned her network role on sex while other senior executives enabled the behavior.
Julie Roginsky, a political consultant and cable news commentator, is the latest to hit Fox News with a lawsuit claiming retaliation over treatment in the wake of alleged Roger Ailes sexual harassment.

On Monday, Roginsky filed suit in New York Supreme Court against the cable network owned by 21st Century Fox, its ex-president Ailes and current president Bill Shine. She’s represented in part by the same legal team who handled Gretchen Carlson’s much-discussed lawsuit, which prompted other women to come forward to claim being victim to a hostile workplace at Fox News. The Justice Department is currently investigating Fox in connection to payments to various Ailes accusers.

According to Roginsky’s complaint, her promotion to a regular spot co-hosting the mid-afternoon show, The Five, was “contingent upon having a sexual relationship with Ailes,” and when she refused, she didn’t get the position.

Roginsky says she’s appeared on Fox News since 2005 and became a regular in 2011. Her contract was renewed three times, according to the complaint. She began appearing on The Five after the departure of Bob Beckel.

“Ailes repeatedly called Roginsky into his office for one-on-one meetings, telling her that he really liked her on The Five,” states the complaint. “During these meetings, Ailes would frequently steer the conversation to Roginsky’s personal life by asking, among other things, if she was dating anyone, why she was not married, what she was looking for in a man, and remarking that he did not understand why she was still single since she was so attractive.”

The complaint continues, “During these meetings, Ailes additionally (and without irony) volunteered the advice that Roginsky should engage in sexual relationships with ‘older, married, conservative men’ because ‘they may stray but they always come back because they’re loyal.’ Ailes also remarked that he was loyal but that loyalty was a two-way street. These comments and their delivery made it clear that Ailes wanted a sexual relationship with Roginsky.”

Ailes would “consistently position himself in such a way as to look down Roginsky’s dress,” adds the complaint.

Roginsky complains how the slot on The Five eventually went to Geraldo Rivera — “even though that seat on the show had typically been reserved for a liberal like Roginsky” — and although she remained on rotation on Outnumbered, “she was rarely allowed to lead her own segments, unlike the other panelists on the show.”

She says through her complaint that she couldn’t get another meeting with Ailes after rebuffing him.

During the summer months last year, others at the network put “increasing pressure” on Fox News employees to defend Ailes and attack Carlson, the lawsuit alleges, so much so that she says she left the Republican National Convention more than a day early. At the Democratic National Convention, Shine allegedly told her that “everything they are saying about Roger is true.”

Roginsky also claims that although her allegations against Ailes were known by the network’s top lawyer, Dianne Brandi, no one advised her to contact those at the Paul Weiss law firm who were investigating Ailes’ conduct. The investigators didn’t contact her either. She says top brass “took no action to investigate” and “kept Ailes’ conduct secret and enabled it.”

The lawsuit asserts damage to her career path as well as mental and physical pain. Represented by attorneys at Smith Mullin and Golenbock Eiseman, Roginsky is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

BILL O’REILLY ON THE HOT SEAT FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Walsh and her attorney are calling for an independent investigation of the culture of sexual harrassment at Fox News.
Radio host Dr. Wendy Walsh is used to speaking about interpersonal relationships, but on Monday morning the psychologist and former The O’Reilly Factor commentator told her own story of how she feels her romantic snubbing of Bill O’Reilly cost her a paid job at Fox News.

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Attorney Lisa Bloom on Sunday announced the press conference, framing it as a follow-up to the recent New York Times article which reported that five women have received $13 million in payments from O’Reilly in exchange for not pursuing litigation or speaking about sexual harassment accusations against him.

In Bloom’s Woodland Hills office on Monday, Walsh told the story of how a misunderstanding after dinner led to her ouster at the network.

Walsh says she had been a recurring guest on the show, and O’Reilly asked her to have dinner at the Bel-Air Hotel. During dinner they discussed her future at the network, and he indicated they were going to bring her on as a paid correspondent. He even told her his best friend Roger Ailes was on board with the move. But, after dinner, O’Reilly said “let’s get out of here” and invited her up to his hotel room. The mood change after she politely declined, explaining that as a single mom she wanted to set a good example for her daughter.

Prior to the presser, Walsh spoke with KFI’s Bill Handel in an exclusive interview. She acknowledged that the awkward interaction itself was fairly innocuous and described O’Reilly’s move as “Mad Men-style dating tactics.” Walsh told her radio colleague that after the incident at the hotel she tried to “play nice with the big dog” and it never occurred to her to report the incident because she didn’t know job applicants could file sexual harassment complaints.

Read more: Hollywood Reporter

 

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