Fox Wants Radio Reporter's Lawsuit Tossed

Fox News Radio says a Jerusalem-based correspondent shouldn't be allowed to pursue discrimination claims under New York state laws, according to a motion to dismiss filed Thursday.

Jessica Golloher sued the radio network and its parent company 21st Century Fox in May, claiming that she marginalized because of her gender and was notified her contract wouldn't be renewed within 24 hours of requesting an opportunity to speak with the network's independent investigator.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox is asking the court to either dismiss Golloher's suit or compel arbitration, claiming the correspondent's claims of employment discrimination and retaliation under the New York State Human Rights Law are meritless and also procedurally barred because she's not a resident of the state.

Jessica Golloher

"Plaintiff alleges that, while she was living and working in Russia and Israel, she experienced gender discrimination," writes attorney Linda Goldstein. "She also alleges that — while still living and working in Israel — her employment was terminated. Nowhere does she claim that the alleged discrimination had the required impact in New York."

Fox says Golloher points to only one incident that happened in a New York newsroom. She says she felt mortified after Fox News Radio vp Mitch Davis announced to the room that "he had added a new setting to Ms. Golloher's audio equipment that would lower the pitch of her voice." The network says Golloher's claim is merely a petty slight that doesn't support a discrimination claim and she's given no basis "to conclude that the remark had anything to do with Plaintiff’s gender as opposed to the sound of her voice."