Now that 21st Century Fox has spent so many tens of millions placating the thin-skinned, groping and propositioning men who damaged its reputation and drove away plenty of its talent (if you want to call it that), it’s time for them to settle with the victims of that alleged abuse.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Fox did not accept the terms of a resolution put forth in July by lawyer Douglas H. Wigdor on behalf of more than 20 current and former Fox employees. According to two people familiar with the matter who spoke with the Times, Wigdor had asked for upwards of $60 million to settles these disputes, which include gender and racial discrimination allegations against Fox.
The Times reports that its sources alluded to “at least one explosive complaint that had not yet been made public” included in the proposed resolution, in addition to many allegations made public over the last several months.
Wigdor had proposed in the failed resolution that the settlement be paid in a lump sum, which he was to distribute at his discretion among his clients, a method the Times notes is rare considering the disparate nature of the cases and their volume.
21st Century Fox paid $40 million to Roger Ailes upon his departure and $25 million to Bill O’Reilly, both of whom were ostensibly forced to leave their positions once the rising tide of sexual harassment allegations against them became a bad bet for the network. Wigdor pointed out to the Times that, given how generous the company has been with the alleged progenitors of its legal woes, “Outside the context of the mediation, any amount under what Ailes and O’Reilly got in total would be unjust.”