Individuals who claim they have been sexually harassed at work sometimes find themselves with a daunting task, as they’re squaring off with a well-prepared corporation with a lot of money at its disposal. In cases like these, moving quickly can sometimes help.
For example, a woman sued Fox News and one of its hosts Bill O’Reilly in 2004. The network knew she was going to do it before she did, though, and got ready. The company actually filed an extortion lawsuit targeting her before she filed her own lawsuit. They tried to damage her credibility and she ended up having to settle out of court.
Recently, Fox news host Gretchen Carlson decided to sue another man associated with Fox News — CEO Roger Ailes. She did not approach it in the same way, though. She didn’t go public with it, didn’t tell anyone she’d been fired, didn’t tell the company or the CEO what she was going to do before filing the suit and did as much as possible to make sure he was caught off guard.
Carlson also hired her own public relations firm. As soon as she filed the lawsuit, she worked quickly with the firm to tell news organizations and the public about it — before anyone could attack her credibility. The case is far from over, but Fox News offered a passive statement about the allegations and things appear to be going much differently than they did in 2004.
As Carlson’s case shows, acting quickly can sometimes help dramatically with these types of lawsuits. It’s important to know about all of your legal options and how best to use them if you want your case to have the best chance of success in New Jersey.
Source: Politico, “The Carlson Camp,” Peter Sterne, Nick Lindseth and Kelsey Sutton, July 09, 2016
