Fox News has fired a producer who filed a lawsuit against the network, alleging that she was coached by the network’s lawyers and forced to give misleading testimony in defense of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit.
In her lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in New York and Delaware Supreme Court, Abby Grossberg’s attorneys said she was placed on forced leave. They also alleged that the network retaliated against her after she complained of unlawful harassment based on her gender and Jewish religion.
In a statement, Fox News said: “Like most organizations, Fox News Media’s lawyers engage in privileged communications with our employees when necessary to provide legal advice. Last week, our lawyer, Ms. Grossberg, explained that while she is free to pursue any legal claim of her choosing, she is in possession of our privileged information and is not authorized to disclose it.We understood that if Fox violated our instructions, it would take appropriate action, including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored this communication and decided to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect these pieces of Fox confidential information.We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg’s baseless legal claims, which are riddled with falsehoods allegations against Fox and our employees.” Variety first reported her termination.
Grossberg worked on shows hosted by Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, two prominent figures in Dominion’s lawsuit against the network. She claimed that when confronted with testimony in the Dominion case, the network’s lawyers subtly tried to “shift all responsibility for the alleged defamation against Dominion onto her shoulders and, implicitly, onto her trusted colleague, Ms. Bartiromo , and not her around the mostly male senior officials at Fox News who supported the repeated reporting of the lies against the Dominion.”
The network also filed a request for a preliminary injunction and an injunction with the New York Supreme Court, challenging Grossberg’s release of attorney-client communications. But it later dropped that lawsuit.
Grossberg claimed a “toxic” work culture, where misogyny was common among Carlson’s show staff. She claimed she was molested by producers Alexander McCaskill and Justin Wells Tucker Carlson tonight.
Grossberg’s attorney, Parisis G. Filippatos, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorneys for Fox News and Dominion presented oral arguments in the Dominion case this week, with both sides seeking a court ruling to potentially avoid a jury trial. Judge Eric M. Davis did not indicate how he would rule on their summary judgment requests. But he referred to Grossberg’s lawsuit, saying she filed an errata document to make changes to her testimony. Davis suggested Fox tried to push back on her filing, arguing it was confidential information and said the network’s lawyers could explain her reasoning.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
