Courtesy of CNN Money:
A federal judge in New York has denied Bill O'Reilly's motion to seal settlement agreements he struck with multiple women who accused him of harassment, dealing a huge blow to the former Fox News host in a defamation suit brought last year.
Deborah Batts, the judge presiding over the defamation suit, ruled Tuesday that O'Reilly "has failed to present compelling countervailing factors that could overcome the presumption of public access" to the agreements.
Batts also said O'Reilly "has not even come close to rebutting this First Amendment presumption" that favors public access to documents.
"Defendant O'Reilly asks the Court to resolve a dispute by relying on the very Agreements he seeks to shield from public view," Batts wrote.
The judge's ruling means that certain terms of the settlements are coming to light for the first time. On Wednesday, Neil Mullin and Nancy Erika Smith, the attorneys representing the three plaintiffs, introduced to the court settlement agreements between O'Reilly and women who had sued and settled with him. The agreement struck with Andrea Mackris, a former Fox News producer who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against O'Reilly in 2004, required all parties in the case to disclaim any of the evidence "as counterfeit or forgeries" should it be made public.
As Smith and Mullin put it in a separate filing on Wednesday, the provision required Mackris to "lie -- even in legal proceedings or under oath -- if any evidence becomes public, by calling evidence 'counterfeit' or 'forgeries.'"
A former Fox New host had a legal settlement written up that forces a former co-worker to lie about factual information if it becomes public?
Let's chalk that up to the least surprising news of the day.
Man I used to love to hate on Bill O'Reilly back when he actually mattered. (Might have something to do with the fact that he attacked me on national television.)
But now that he is a fucking nobody, I just enjoy watching him sink slowly into oblivion.
Source https://ift.tt/2GDQmBz
A federal judge in New York has denied Bill O'Reilly's motion to seal settlement agreements he struck with multiple women who accused him of harassment, dealing a huge blow to the former Fox News host in a defamation suit brought last year.
Deborah Batts, the judge presiding over the defamation suit, ruled Tuesday that O'Reilly "has failed to present compelling countervailing factors that could overcome the presumption of public access" to the agreements.
Batts also said O'Reilly "has not even come close to rebutting this First Amendment presumption" that favors public access to documents.
"Defendant O'Reilly asks the Court to resolve a dispute by relying on the very Agreements he seeks to shield from public view," Batts wrote.
The judge's ruling means that certain terms of the settlements are coming to light for the first time. On Wednesday, Neil Mullin and Nancy Erika Smith, the attorneys representing the three plaintiffs, introduced to the court settlement agreements between O'Reilly and women who had sued and settled with him. The agreement struck with Andrea Mackris, a former Fox News producer who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against O'Reilly in 2004, required all parties in the case to disclaim any of the evidence "as counterfeit or forgeries" should it be made public.
As Smith and Mullin put it in a separate filing on Wednesday, the provision required Mackris to "lie -- even in legal proceedings or under oath -- if any evidence becomes public, by calling evidence 'counterfeit' or 'forgeries.'"
A former Fox New host had a legal settlement written up that forces a former co-worker to lie about factual information if it becomes public?
Let's chalk that up to the least surprising news of the day.
Man I used to love to hate on Bill O'Reilly back when he actually mattered. (Might have something to do with the fact that he attacked me on national television.)
But now that he is a fucking nobody, I just enjoy watching him sink slowly into oblivion.
Source https://ift.tt/2GDQmBz