Former Fox News host Melissa Francis has reportedly settled with the network and will receive a massive payout of $15 million after she accused them of gender pay disparity.
The network agreed to the payout after Francis departed in 2020 after nine years as a host on Fox News and Fox Business, The Washington Post is reporting. Her departure came as a shock to many viewers and was never fully explained.
She filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor after leaving Fox News, alleging retaliation by the network after she outed her former employer for its gender pay disparity.
“Fox News has always been committed to the equitable treatment of all employees which we have demonstrated consistently over our 26-year history, and we are extremely proud of our business. We parted ways with Melissa Francis over a year and a half ago and her allegations were entirely without merit. We have also fully cooperated with the New York State Department of Labor’s investigation and look forward to the completion of this matter,” Fox News said in a statement.
FoxNews Spokesperson- “We parted ways with Melissa Francis over a year and a half ago and her allegations were entirely without merit”……while simultaneously paying her $15 million dollars.
— ArizonaKate (@2katesmithaz) June 19, 2022
Francis claims that Dianne Brandi, who is a former executive vice president for legal and business affairs at the network, admitted to a pay disparity between men and women at Fox News during a contract negotiation in 2019. She asserted that Brandi told her she had no recourse during the negotiations and was forced into accepting a smaller salary than a man would get in similar negotiations.
“That’s how the world works,” Brandi remarked, according to Francis. “Women make less. It’s just a fact.”
“Melissa Francis’ version of that conversation is untrue and patently absurd – furthermore, it is illogical that anyone with Dianne Brandi’s level of experience in negotiating talent contracts for a living would make such a ludicrous statement,” a Fox News spokesperson said, aggressively denying the former host’s allegations.
Fox News told The Hill that it has “undergone a comprehensive overhaul of its entire workplace culture,” including in areas that promoted women.
I thought Melissa Francis was fired from .@FoxNews for her rude and bizarre interruption of @newtgingrich —weirdly coming to the defense of George Soros, but who knows?
I do know I didn’t respect any of her opinions after that incident. .@OutnumberedFNC https://t.co/Qa2m3ZchZI pic.twitter.com/JFzAKCx7y3
— KK Berd 🇺🇸 (@BluebirdKeny) June 19, 2022
Ari Wilkenfeld, who is a partner at the Atkinson Law Group in Bethesda, MD, commented that the size of Francis’ award suggests that Fox News realized it would have a weak position defending itself in court against a lawsuit.
“For a settlement this large, there would probably need to be pretty convincing evidence of an obvious and gross disparity in pay,” he contended according to the Washington Post.
The New York State Labor Department is still adjudicating Francis’ claim. Her attorney, Kevin Mintzer, told the Washington Post that Francis filed her complaint for “the women of the company who remain behind.”
Fox News also paid out a huge $20 million settlement to ex-host Gretchen Carlson in 2016. She filed a sexual harassment claim against the network and the late CEO Roger Ailes.
The amount paid to Francis is on a scale with the blockbuster settlements the network offered a number of female employees who leveled claims of sexual misconduct and harassment against Roger Ailes, the co-founder of Fox News, and former prime-time star Bill O’Reilly.
— Sarah Ellison (@sarahellison) June 19, 2022
Francis is a former actress who appeared on “Little House on the Prairie,” before earning an economics degree and then going to work for CNBC. She worked for Fox News from 2012 to 2020, co-hosting”Outnumbered” and “After The Bell.”
Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- NFL husband of ‘REAL’ Housewife star calls out ‘bullsh*tters’ after she’s allegedly canned for being ‘MAGA’ - March 28, 2024
- Man charged with sucker punching random woman on NYC street is a real piece of work! - March 28, 2024
- ‘Absurd!’ City of Oakland to fine 102-yr-old man because he can’t keep home free from graffiti - March 28, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
One thought on “Fox News reportedly settles with ex-host Melissa Francis, awards whopping $15M over gender pay gap”
Comments are closed.
There is now a significant gender pay gap in gender pay gap payouts. These b*tches are all millionaires now, where’s my gender gap payout because I’m male and I don’t make close to that!