Former Fox News host Melissa Francis has received a nearly $15 million settlement from the network after she complained about pay disparities based on gender and discrimination at the conservative cable giant.
The massive bonuses, which are on par with the massive settlements made by Fox News to a number of female employees who allege sexual misconduct from former CEO Roger Ailes and former star Bill O’Reilly, First reported by Washington Post Sunday.
The disclosure of the amount of Francis’ settlement comes just months after The Daily Beast first announced that it had filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor, claiming Fox News retaliated against it for citing the pay disparity.
While neither Frances nor her attorney Kevin Mintzer has commented on the amount of the settlement, Mintzer has filed a statement regarding Frances’ complaint at the Department of Labor.
“Melissa has filed her accusation with the Department of Labor not for herself but for the company’s women who are still there,” Mintzer told The Daily Beast. “Contrary to Fox News’ false claims about a ‘new era’, what happened to Melissa shows that sexism and revenge remain prevalent in the network. We continue to cooperate with the Department of Labor, and look forward to receiving the results of their investigation.”
A network spokesperson provided the following response from Fox News Media: “FOX News has always been committed to the fair treatment of all employees which we have consistently demonstrated throughout our 26 years of history, and we are very proud of our business. We parted ways with Melissa Francis over a year and a half ago and her allegations were unfounded. We have also fully cooperated with the New York State Department of Labor’s investigation and look forward to concluding this matter.”
The spokesperson also noted that Fox has overhauled the workplace culture over the years, which has included promoting many women to leadership positions as well as on air.
While the network says Francis’ allegations are “completely baseless,” one lawyer not connected to the former host’s case said Washington Post That a settlement of this magnitude suggests that there may have been “very convincing evidence of a clear and stark wage differential”.
Frances, a former children’s television actress, joined Fox News Media in 2012 as a Fox Business anchor, and in 2017, she had the opportunity to work as a permanent co-host for the Midday Round Table program on Fox News. outnumbered. At the same time, Frances continued to present Fox Business afternoon after the bell.
However, in October 2020, She was suddenly withdrawn from both shows Amid their dispute over wages with the network.
In an interview with Washington PostWhen I first offered her the promotion, Francis said that outnumbered In 2017, she received a “slight increase in compensation,” which was less than $1 million per year and less than comparable hosts were offering. According to Frances, she agreed to wait until the next contract negotiations in 2019.
During this time, she claimed she kept a spreadsheet comparing the salaries of others at Fox, based on her conversations with colleagues and agents. Even after adjusting for experience, ratings, and time slots, she said she found that the men in the network were paid significantly more than the women.
She also recounted a conversation she had with former Fox News Executive Vice President for Legal and Commercial Dianne Brandi in November 2019. (Brandy continues to represent Fox News on some contract matters.) At the time, Francis asserted, Brandi informed her that she would not receive an increase in compensation, leading Francis to note that she had found a “staggering gender pay gap”.
With the network recently promoting Susan Scott to CEO and pushing other female CEOs, Francis said Brandi made her the following statement: “This is how the world works. Women earn less. It’s just a fact.” Fox News, in a statement to The Daily Beast, opposed this exchange.
A network spokesperson said: “Melissa Francis’ version of that conversation is clearly incorrect and absurd – moreover, it makes no sense that anyone with Diane Brandy’s level of experience negotiating talent contracts for a living would make such a ridiculous statement.”
Frances stated that after the network denied her attorney’s request to disclose her colleagues’ salaries, she entered into arbitration with Fox in August 2020. The arbitrator, according to Francis, set an October 7 deadline for the network to provide salary information.
15 minutes before 4pm EST after the bell On that day, Frances said she saw this popup on her remote as she was getting ready to go live: “You’ve been cancelled.”
She did not appear on Fox again, eventually handing in her resignation on February 2, 2021.
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Diana Falzone was an on-camera reporter and digital correspondent for FoxNews.com from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, she filed a gender discrimination and disability lawsuit against the network and settled, leaving the company in March 2018.
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