FOXNEWS fires Judge Napolitano after producer accused him of stroking his arm and making sexually suggestive comments in elevator…
August 3, 2021
By JAMES GORDON
Fox News has fired its business analyst Andrew Napolitano after a male producer accused him of sexually harassing him.
John Fawcett, who works on the Kudlow show hosted by Larry Kudlow on Fox Business Network, is suing the network claiming he was sexually harassed by Napolitano who he claims stroked his arm and made suggestive comments while they were on an elevator together.
Fawcett also claims in his lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, that ‘sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and racial discrimination are still tolerated at Fox.’
On Monday, Napolitano was fired in the wake of the allegations becoming public.
Fox News confirmed they’d let the business analyst go after an internal investigation.
‘Upon first learning of John Fawcett’s allegations against Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News Media immediately investigated the claims and addressed the matter with both parties,’ the networks said in a statement Monday.
‘The network and Judge Napolitano have since parted ways.
‘We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, are committed to providing a safe, transparent, and collaborative workplace environment for all our employees and took immediate, appropriate action.’
Fawcett, 27, was hired to work at Fox in March 2019. Prior to starting at the network he had worked as Assistant Campaign Manager in Congress, according to his LinkedIn page.
Fawcett said he was in an elevator with Fox personality Napolitano later that year when Napolitano stroked his arm and made suggestive comments.
‘Even though the two had never met previously, Judge Napolitano stood awkwardly close to the plaintiff, started stroking his arm, and asked who the plaintiff worked for,’ the lawsuit states.
Napolitano asked if he was looking for a new job and the pair spoke about Dobbs’s horse farm and Napolitano’s maple syrup farm.
‘You see these hands? They look clean, but they get really dirty,’ Judge Napolitano is alleged to have told Fawcett in a suggestive manner.
Napolitano went on to invite Fawcett to his Manhattan apartment or New Jersey farm. Fawcett ‘politely excused himself.’
‘When the plaintiff reached his office and told his co-workers about the encounter, they immediately started laughing,’ the lawsuit states.
‘It was common knowledge that Judge Napolitano sexually harassed young men at Fox News, and it had even happened to one of the plaintiff’s co-workers. The plaintiff did not initially report the incident to human resources, however, because he did not want to jeopardize his career at Fox, but he did tell Mr. Dobbs.’
Fawcett told Dobbs who in turn reported allegations to Fox’s chief human resources officer, Kevin Lord, who is alleged to have responded dismissively: ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’
Fawcett claims the network did nothing to intervene despite there being two similar outstanding lawsuits against Napolitano.
He has said executives ‘will bend over backwards to protect such behavior so long as it is perpetrated by senior management or prominent on-air personalities.’
Fawcett alleges that Napolitano’s reputation for sexual harassing young men was well-established by 2019, the year Fawcett says he began working for the Fox Business channel.
Napolitano has previously called the allegations against him ‘pure fiction.’
Fox said the network investigated and ‘took immediate, appropriate action.’ The company said it and Napolitano had since ended their relationship.
Fawcett also said that while working at Kudlow’s show…
FOXNEWS fires Judge Napolitano after producer accused him of stroking his arm and making sexually suggestive comments in elevator…
By JAMES GORDON
Fox News has fired its business analyst Andrew Napolitano after a male producer accused him of sexually harassing him.
John Fawcett, who works on the Kudlow show hosted by Larry Kudlow on Fox Business Network, is suing the network claiming he was sexually harassed by Napolitano who he claims stroked his arm and made suggestive comments while they were on an elevator together.
Fawcett also claims in his lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, that ‘sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and racial discrimination are still tolerated at Fox.’
On Monday, Napolitano was fired in the wake of the allegations becoming public.
Fox News confirmed they’d let the business analyst go after an internal investigation.
‘Upon first learning of John Fawcett’s allegations against Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News Media immediately investigated the claims and addressed the matter with both parties,’ the networks said in a statement Monday.
‘The network and Judge Napolitano have since parted ways.
‘We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, are committed to providing a safe, transparent, and collaborative workplace environment for all our employees and took immediate, appropriate action.’
Fawcett, 27, was hired to work at Fox in March 2019. Prior to starting at the network he had worked as Assistant Campaign Manager in Congress, according to his LinkedIn page.
Fawcett said he was in an elevator with Fox personality Napolitano later that year when Napolitano stroked his arm and made suggestive comments.
‘Even though the two had never met previously, Judge Napolitano stood awkwardly close to the plaintiff, started stroking his arm, and asked who the plaintiff worked for,’ the lawsuit states.
Napolitano asked if he was looking for a new job and the pair spoke about Dobbs’s horse farm and Napolitano’s maple syrup farm.
‘You see these hands? They look clean, but they get really dirty,’ Judge Napolitano is alleged to have told Fawcett in a suggestive manner.
Napolitano went on to invite Fawcett to his Manhattan apartment or New Jersey farm. Fawcett ‘politely excused himself.’
‘When the plaintiff reached his office and told his co-workers about the encounter, they immediately started laughing,’ the lawsuit states.
‘It was common knowledge that Judge Napolitano sexually harassed young men at Fox News, and it had even happened to one of the plaintiff’s co-workers. The plaintiff did not initially report the incident to human resources, however, because he did not want to jeopardize his career at Fox, but he did tell Mr. Dobbs.’
Fawcett told Dobbs who in turn reported allegations to Fox’s chief human resources officer, Kevin Lord, who is alleged to have responded dismissively: ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’
Fawcett claims the network did nothing to intervene despite there being two similar outstanding lawsuits against Napolitano.
He has said executives ‘will bend over backwards to protect such behavior so long as it is perpetrated by senior management or prominent on-air personalities.’
Fawcett alleges that Napolitano’s reputation for sexual harassing young men was well-established by 2019, the year Fawcett says he began working for the Fox Business channel.
Napolitano has previously called the allegations against him ‘pure fiction.’
Fox said the network investigated and ‘took immediate, appropriate action.’ The company said it and Napolitano had since ended their relationship.
Fawcett also said that while working at Kudlow’s show…
Read the full article in Daily Mail