Ed Henry sues Fox News, CEO for defamation over misconduct allegation

Deer Park-raised Ed Henry, the former Fox News anchor fired a year ago for "willful sexual misconduct" following accusations of sexual assault, responded Wednesday with a defamation lawsuit.

In a complaint and jury demand filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, against Fox News Channel and its CEO, Suzanne Scott, the 49-year-old Henry says Scott "knew, or should have known, that [Henry] had been falsely accused of rape or serious sexual misconduct by a former Fox News employee" before Scott and the network "abruptly fired him, publicly humiliating him in the process."

In a July 1, 2020, statement, Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace, who is not a party to the suit, had said that Henry was terminated following an investigation into a former employee's claim of "willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago." The firing, Henry alleges, was meant to "burnish [Scott's] image as a tough, no nonsense female executive who cleaned up Fox News" in the wake of high-profile settlements for sexual misconduct accusations against such signature figures as commentator Bill O'Reilly and the late Roger Ailes, then network chairman.

Henry says he had provided Scott "texts, emails, and photographs proving that" former Fox Business associate producer Jennifer Eckhart — who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News later that month — "had lied about Plaintiff." Henry, who has been married to NPR News' chief Washington editor Shirley Henry since 2010, said that he and Eckhart had what he called "a consensual affair" that ended in 2017.

The July 2020 lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by Eckhart and Cathy Areu, a former frequent Fox News guest, alleged that Ed Henry "groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced Ms. Eckhart into having a sexual relationship with him, and that, when she would not comply voluntarily, he sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees."

Henry — a graduate of St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip who now lives outside Washington, D.C. — additionally contends that Scott "has repeatedly covered up sexual misconduct by senior Fox News management" and is "scapegoating" him.

The 23-page complaint asks for "a permanent injunction requiring the removal of the Statement" as well as actual and punitive monetary damages to be determined at trial, plus legal fees.

A Fox News Media representative said in a statement that the network had "conducted a thorough independent investigation into Ed Henry immediately after we were made aware of a serious misconduct claim against him by a former employee. Based on the results of those findings, we promptly terminated Mr. Henry's employment for willful sexual misconduct and stand by the decision entirely." Calling the lawsuit "rife with inaccuracies," Fox said it was "fully prepared to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations … ."

In a separate statement, the network said that Scott has "worked tirelessly to transform the company culture, implementing annual, mandatory in-person harassment prevention training" and taking numerous other steps, "as well as executing a zero-tolerance policy regarding workplace misconduct for which we engage outside independent firms to handle investigations."

Ty Clevenger, an attorney for Henry, told Newsday, "I'm amazed that Fox News was dumb enough to repeat the defamatory statements about my client and then add some new ones," and said, "Discovery and depositions will be extraordinarily embarrassing for Fox News and its leadership."

He added that Scott "did not deny any of the allegations against her … . All she can offer is a canned statement about how wonderful things are at Fox News." Clevenger noted that earlier this week, the parent company had paid the New York City Commission on Human Rights a $1 million fine, the most the commission can levy, as part of a settlement concerning sexual harassment at Fox News.

In response, Fox News reiterated its earlier statements denying the allegations against Scott.