New Claims Against Fox News and Ed Henry Revealed in Jennifer Eckhart’s Lawsuit

New lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer associate Jennifer Eckhart contains never-before-reported allegations of sexual assault and harassment on the cable network.

Eckhart sued Fox News and the former host Ed Henry in 2020 over her claim that Henry did it he brutally raped her in 2017, Henry vehemently denied the accusations. Fox News says yes released Henry immediately after hearing Eckhart’s theorems. Eckhart does disputed both accounts were in the past.

Eckhart’s legal counsel on Wednesday Michael J. Willeminpartner at Wigdor LLP, submitted a 39-page application, obtained by Mediaite. The legal brief opposing Fox’s motion for summary judgment, detailed shocking new claims that Henry had also attacked another Fox News colleague during her time at the network, and that multiple Fox News employees had notified company executives of their concerns about him, as well as other previously unreported allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment at Fox News by other male employees still employed at the network.

The document filed in court records contains redactions in numerous places, but key details of the allegations remain public.

Fox News has done this repeatedly he denied committing the crime and in her writings she argued that Eckhart “did not tell anyone about her sexual encounters with Henry” and “made no complaints of sexual harassment or retaliation until after she was removed from the network.”

In a new statement responding to the latest briefings, Fox said: “After missing the filing deadline, Ms. Eckhart’s attorneys are desperately trying to salvage her case. As confirmed by discovery in this case, FOX News was not aware of any relationship between Ms. Eckhart and Mr. Henry or any allegations of unwanted sexual activity by Mr. Henry until after her departure from the company.

Willemin argues in the lawsuit against Fox’s denial of liability, seeking to establish that the network “knew” Henry posed a “substantial risk” due to his past behavior and “failed to investigate” prior allegations made against Henry in 2017, making Fox News ‘Safe Haven for Men Who Commit Sexual Harassment and Assault’

This past behavior includes Henry’s May 2016 “affair” with a Las Vegas stripper, the memo says, which resulted in Fox News suspending Henry (with pay) and ordering him to seek treatment for sex addiction .

Henry’s problems were not limited to “one consensual matter,” Willemin writes, but rather to a pattern of “workplace sexual misconduct,” including using a Fox News-issued device to participate in a “sex-related incident” that “DC’s office helped Ed cover up,” before Fox News learned of Mr. Henry’s affair with a stripper and engaging in inappropriate “sexual intercourse” with another female friend:

As described in more detail below, none of these allegations have ever been significantly investigated. As it turned out, Mr. Henry had been sleeping with (redacted). This sexual relationship, which involved a similar and serious power imbalance, began in November 2016, after Mr. Henry’s return from suspension, and preceded Ms. Eckhart’s rape, which occurred in February 2017. (Redacted) she described Mr. Henry as a “predator” who took advantage of a “power imbalance” to get her to engage in a relationship – including forcing her to engage in sexual acts in Mr. Henry’s office – which was “predatory”. “emotionally abusive” and “not as ‘consensual’ as (she) thought.” Additionally, before raping Ms. Eckhart in 2017, Mr. Henry sent a photo of his penis to a 22-year-old man (redacted). The photo was completely unsolicited and (redacted) he was shocked and upset to receive it. (Redacted) believes she told her Fox News colleagues about this unwanted sexual harassment in 2016.

In summary, it was well known at Fox News that Mr. Henry posed a serious threat to his female colleagues. In 2016, Fox Business anchor Liz Claman told Ms. Eckart that “everyone at Fox News knows Ed Henry is a sex addict. It’s not a secret.” (Redacted) reported that when Mr. Henry returned from his suspension in 2016, “people in DC and New York ( ) contacted it expressing their discomfort and contempt” that Mr. Henry was back. (Redacted) also said Mr Henry had not changed after attending “sex addict boot camp” and warned he would use his position of power to prey on women. Fox News (redacted), which worked with Mr. Henry in the DC bureau, stated that she and others openly discussed Mr. Henry’s inappropriate behavior toward women on the network, as well as his sexual relationships (redacted). Mr. Henry’s predilection and reputation for sexual harassment were so widely known in the industry that after the case was filed, one of his former targets tweeted: “There’s no way @foxnews didn’t know about Ed Henry. When he was @cnn he was a threat to many of us when it came to communication and everyone was talking about it. Literally so, so, so disgusting.” (Quotes omitted.)

Eckhart’s attorney dismisses Fox’s claims that Henry was sent to a sex addiction rehab program because of “one consensual extramarital affair with a non-employee” as “completely preposterous” and argues it was because the network “She knew he posed a risk to his colleagues, employees and subordinates.”

“And even though he knew it,” Willemin wrote, “Fox News welcomed him back with open arms, rewarded him with a drastic contract extension, increased his compensation to an annual salary, promoted him to a highly coveted anchor position, and continued to enable and turn a blind eye to his actions, effectively tolerating his behavior as red flags, complaints and warning signs mounted.”

The memo specifically detailed Eckhart’s accusation that Henry raped her in February 2017, in which Henry allegedly “forcibly raped her” after he “forced himself on her,” “torn off her clothes, handcuffed her and took photos of her without her consent.” , hit her, slapped her, and whipped her with a belt. Eckhart’s attorney argues that Henry was able to catch Eckhart and rape her on his own, even after Henry’s other alleged sexual assaults against her, because she was “even more afraid of him” after Fox News brought him back after suspension.

Willemin also claims that another Fox News employee alleged that Henry suffered a sexual assault after he returned from suspension around 2017. The employee, whose name has been redacted, detailed the alleged assault in sworn testimony as part of the Eckhart case.

“Fox News’ treatment of Mr. Henry upon his return to the network only emboldened him as he escalated his abuse of women, not only raping Ms. Eckhart but also sexually assaulting another Fox News colleague,” Willemin writes.

The memo detailed a page and a half of other allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment gleaned from sworn affidavits – most of them with changed names – including multiple men whom Fox News identified as still employed. A sample of these allegations from testimony, as described in the memo:

(Redacted) He was twice accused of sexual harassment at Fox News, including asking interns and production assistants for sexual favors and staring at subordinates’ breasts. (Redacted) remained employed, and during these proceedings, a former colleague made a statement that she had been raped by (Redacted) in his Fox News office. (Redacted) remains employed at Fox News today, despite receiving notice of this accusation and submitting an affidavit.

(Redacted) was the subject of approximately five complaints of discrimination, retaliation and/or hostile work environment. He was never disciplined and remains employed at Fox News.

Fox News personality (redacted) sexually harassed his colleague (redacted). Although Mr. Lord testified that (redacted) sent you (redacted) inappropriate sexual text messages, he does not recall whether (redacted) (who continues to play a very prominent role at Fox News) was punished at all. (Quotes omitted.)

Henry is currently employed at Newsmax. When he was hired, things clicked internal outrage According to Newsmax employees, because of the sexual assault allegations against him. Prior to joining Newsmax, Henry hosted Real America’s Voice.

During his tenure at RAV, the scandal-plagued Henry was accused of sending lewd, graphic, sexual texts and memes and making inappropriate comments to a subordinate of a right-wing news organization, such as Mediaite reported in July.

Eckhart hosts the show after leaving Fox News podcast Rediscovered with Jennifer Eckhart.

Eckhart’s lawyer told Mediaite in a written statement: “As today’s documents make clear, there is no justification for Fox News and Ed Henry’s desperate attempts to get out of this case. We strongly believe that Fox News and Mr. Henry will be held accountable by a jury or Ms. Eckhart’s peers, and we look forward to taking this case to trial.”

“Despite millions of dollars spent by a publicly traded company to discredit me and the undisputed facts I have presented, this lawsuit is now one step closer to trial,” Eckhart said in a statement provided to Mediaite. “What is presented in our documents unfortunately reflects many corporate cultures in the US – this is a turning point that brings attention to these standards. My heart goes out to every other woman who suffered at the hands of Ed Henry, because as we uncovered this case, we learned that I am not the only survivor and Fox News employee who he groomed and sexually assaulted. I look forward to my day in court where I will shed even more light on the cultural immorality that the network continues to promote, and on the countless other survivors who have suffered at the hands of pure evil.”

Mediaite reached out to Ed Henry’s legal counsel but has not received a response.

Read the redacted Legal Memorandum below:

Legal record filed by… By sarahrumpf

Disclosure: Diana Falzone was a Fox News reporter from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, she filed a gender and disability discrimination lawsuit against the station, then reached a settlement and left the company in March 2018.

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