Fox News, which for more than a year has dealt with the fallout from an embarrassing sexual harassment scandal, was sued on Monday by the political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes, who claimed that she had been raped by the longtime anchor Charles Payne and was then retaliated against by the network after she came forward with her allegation.
Mr. Payne, the host of “Making Money” on Fox Business, returned to the air this month after the network suspended him in July pending an investigation into his conduct. Upon his return, the network said that it had completed the investigation, which began after Ms. Hughes took her allegations to the network in late June.
Mr. Payne’s lawyer, Jonathan N. Halpern, said in a statement on Monday that his client ”vehemently denies any wrongdoing and will defend himself vigorously against this baseless complaint.”
“We are confident that when the evidence is presented in this case,” he continued, “Mr. Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false.”
In her lawsuit, Ms. Hughes said that Mr. Payne had “pressured” his way into her hotel room in July 2013 and coerced her to have sexual intercourse with him, even though she had refused his advances by telling him “no” and “stop.”
Hughes claims that she felt pressured to continue a sexual relationship with Payne for two years during which he promised that he would secure for her a contract with Fox, but that never happened.
Instead Hughes claims she ended the relationship and reported Payne to the Fox News brass, after which she says they blacklisted her.
“In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Ms. Hughes said in an interview, referring to the allegations in her lawsuit. “In July of 2017, I was raped again by Fox News. Since then, I have been living an absolute hell.”
I have a problem with this in that while I am completely aware that Fox News has an atmosphere which seems to promote and cover for sexual harassment, this went on for two years and it appears that this Hughes woman only reported it to HR after Payne did not deliver on the career opportunities that he promised.
It does not really seem to help her case in that she seems to have willingly continued the relationship and only put the brakes on when he failed to deliver on his side of the bargain.
Source http://ift.tt/2fiJeOm
