Fired Fox News reporter sues Network, accusing it of retaliation
A former Fox News reporter has sued the conservative network, accusing him of discrimination and retaliation because he was fired after speaking out against “false reporting” about the 2020 U.S. election and the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol, according to reports the court. files.
Jason Donner, who worked for Fox News for 12 years as a reporter and producer, alleged in the lawsuit that he was targeted after continually raising concerns with his managers about false statements allowed on air. The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on September 27 and transferred to the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday following a filing by Fox.
Mr. Donner had covered Capitol Hill for Fox News since 2018. He said in the complaint that while the network tried to appease its audience of President Donal J. Trump’s supporters by spreading a false narrative about election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, the work environment became toxic for reporters who tried to ” to report truthfully’.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Donner was working inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 when insurrectionists burst through the doors. He hid in newsstands with other reporters when he heard Fox reporting that the attack had been “peaceful,” he said. Mr. Donner called the Fox News control room, he said in the complaint, and told them that tear gas was going off, that rioters were storming the building and that shots had been fired, and that false reports on the news were “going to get us.” all killed.”
Mr. Donner said he had complained to his bosses about Fox News’ “lack of support” in the aftermath of the riot, including host Tucker Carlson’s false claims and conspiracy theories about that day, and said that “it was demoralizing that Fox News would allow Carlson to bombard the country with false information.”
Mr Donner said he called in sick to work on September 26, 2022, and was fired two days later, with Fox explaining that he was “late to work and did not show up for work.”
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for Mr. Donner declined to comment. The lawsuit does not specify how much damages are being sought.
Fox is facing an avalanche of lawsuits over the false stories it aired in its coverage of the 2020 election and the Capitol riot, including from shareholders and Ray Epps, a man accused of being an undercover government agent in the to be Capitol.
In April, Fox paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over the company’s false conspiracy theories about voter fraud. A raft of internal company communications released in the Dominion case showed that many Fox executives and anchors did not believe the voter fraud allegations but made them anyway.
Smartmatic, another voting technology company, has filed a similar defamation lawsuit seeking $2.7 billion in damages.
In June, Fox News settled with a former producer, Abby Grossberg, for $12 million in a hostile workplace lawsuit.