The Fox News producer claims she was “coerced” by the network into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion lawsuit.
Washington. A Fox News producer who worked for hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson filed a couple lawsuits against the network on Monday, alleging that her legal team “coerced” her into making misleading statements in an ongoing libel case filed by Dominion Voting Systems and accusing the company of creating a “toxic” work environment.
Abby Grossberg, who joined Fox in 2019 as a senior producer on the Sunday morning show Bartiromo and eventually became Carlson’s primetime program manager, said she was “coerced, intimidated and misinformed” by Fox’s lawyers while preparing to testify. . in a $1.6 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion against Fox News.
Prior to joining the network, Grossberg worked for several other news outlets, including CBS News.
One complaint filed in federal district court in New York, Grossberg claims that Fox’s legal team indicated that she should answer a general “I don’t remember” to as many questions as she could during her September 2022 deposition, which she claimed was an attempt to shift responsible for the alleged anti-Dominion slander on her and Bartiromo, “and not on Fox News executives, the mostly males who supported the repeated coverage of anti-Dominion lies”.
Dominion accused Fox News executives and anchors of deliberately making false statements about the company after the 2020 presidential election to boost its ratings. Revelations from Dominion’s ongoing dispute with Fox News and claims in Grossberg’s lawsuits also shed light on what went on behind the scenes after the presidential election and the atmosphere surrounding the networks’ most popular anchors.
In response to Grossberg’s lawsuit, a spokesperson for Fox News said the network “has engaged an independent, third-party legal advisor to immediately investigate the concerns expressed by Ms. Grossberg following a critical assessment of her performance. we will vigorously defend Fox against all her claims.”
This was stated by Grossberg’s lawyer Jerry Philippatos. the network placed her on mandatory administrative leave after she informed them of the upcoming lawsuits. Fox also filed a request for a temporary restraining order in a New York state court in an attempt to keep Grossberg from disclosing confidential conversations with his lawyers.
“Ms. Grossberg has threatened to disclose confidential attorney and client information to Fox, and we have filed a temporary restraining order to protect our rights,” a spokesperson for the network said.
Grossberg has filed a second complaint in a Delaware superior court in which she alleges that Fox’s attorneys acted at the direction of the network to “deceive, manipulate and coerce Ms. Grossberg into giving obscure and/or incomplete answers during her deposition.” the responses clearly damaged her reputation, but greatly benefited Fox News.”
Her statement was filed ahead of a Dominion defamation hearing against Fox due in court next month.
“Ms. Grossberg was isolated, overworked, underestimated, denied promotion opportunities, and generally treated significantly worse than her male counterparts, even when those men were less qualified than her,” it says. in a federal court suit.
Grossberg claims that while working on Carlson’s show, she encountered an environment that “enslaves women based on vile sexist stereotypes, portrays religious minorities and belittles their traditions, and shows little to no respect for those who suffer from mental illness.”
Regarding her testimony in the Dominion case, Grossberg claims Fox News lawyers were “unhappy” that she was “too outspoken and outspoken” during the prep sessions, and she was under the impression that she should downplay the importance of ratings to net.
Grossberg claimed that the Bartiromo show was understaffed and under-resourced, causing her to struggle to keep up with email warnings Dominion sent to Fox News about its post-election coverage. She also claimed that Fox Business Network vice president of news coverage Ralph Giordano said that Dominion’s lawsuit was the result of Grossberg’s “failure to manage the diva”, referring to Bartiromo.
In addition to allegations related to Fox News’ legal battle with Dominion, Grossberg’s complaints also detail what she called “the misogynistic environment that pervades Fox News and contributes to a toxic workplace where the truth remains a fugitive while female employees are exposed to verbal abuse at almost every turn.” daily poisonous and ingrained patriarchy.”
While working on The Bartiromo Show, Grossberg claimed that male colleagues referred to Bartiromo as a “crazy bitch”, “menopausal”, “hysterical”, and “diva”, and claimed that she was passed over to higher positions because of her gender.
Grossberg eventually retired from The Bartiromo Show and began working in September 2022 as Carlson’s primetime program manager Tucker Carlson Tonight. According to her lawsuit, on her first full-time job with Carlson’s team, Grossberg reported that enlarged photos of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi in “a low-cut swimsuit that exposed her cleavage” were taped to her computer and throughout the office.
She also recalled Justin Wells, Carlson’s chief producer, asking her if House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy had a sexual relationship with Bartiromo. Grossberg alleged in her lawsuit that during one discussion in the newsroom, Carlson’s employees discussed whether they would rather have sex with Tudor Dixon, a Republican running for governor of Michigan, or Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Dixon’s Democratic opponent. The discussion allegedly took place around mid-October 2022, before Dixon was scheduled to appear on Carlson’s show and discuss her gubernatorial campaign, according to Grossberg’s statement.
In addition to making disparaging comments about women, including calling them vulgar names, Grossberg also claims that Carlson’s employees spoke negatively about Jews. After complaining to Human Resources about what Grossberg described as hostility and sexism from Carlson’s two top producers, she was warned that “immediate improvement” would be required to meet her performance standards.
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