Fracking Fox News

Was run by a a fat old pervert. For the last twenty years. Raise your hand if you are surprised.

The resignation of Roger Ailes, the bloated CEO of Fox News, two weeks after a former Fox & Friends host sued him for sexual harassment may encourage other victims to come forward, women’s advocates say.

But what the network does to ensure such abuses don’t occur in the future could matter much more, signaling to other businesses the importance of having policy that makes it clear that harassment will not be tolerated.

“Some victims of sexual harassment might be encouraged to come forward after seeing that Ailes resigned,’’ says Maya Raghu, director of workplace equality for theNational Women’s Law Center, especially if they see his departure as a “form of accountability.”

Ailes, 76, was sued by Gretchen Carlson, a onetime co-host of the network’s morning talk show Fox & Friends, who said her career suffered after she rejected the executive’s advances. Though Ailes denied the charges, New York magazine has reported that an internal inquiry by 21st Century Fox discovered several more women also claimed to have been harassed by Ailes, including Fox star Megyn Kelly.

On Thursday, Ailes resigned, effective immediately, according to Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox.

Aisles impersonates Jabba the Hutt on Saturday Night Live

Sexual harassment is a common challenge in the workplace. An oft-cited 2011 ABC News/Washington Post poll found that one in four women said they had experienced it on the job, while a 2015 Cosmopolitan survey put the ratio of women sexually harassed at work at one out of three.

The day that Ailes stepped down, Carlson tweeted “thank you to everyone who supported me,’’ along with a statement from her lawyer that read, in part: “We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment, and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women.’’

National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill is hopeful the attention focused on Fox will lead to more victims speaking out.

“We see spikes in reporting when there is a really large national conversation about sexual harassment in the workplace,’’ she says.

“As the new CEO, Rupert Murdoch needs to reassure the viewing public that Fox News understands and will comply with the law,’’ she says. “His silence does just the opposite.”

However, Murdoch’s sons, Lachlan Murdoch, co-executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, and James Murdoch, the company’s CEO, said in a separate statement that they maintain their “commitment to maintaining a work environment based on trust and respect.” And O’Neill says she is heartened by how quickly Fox responded after Carlson filed her legal complaint.

It represents “extraordinary progress” she says, when an allegation is made, top executives take it seriously, and “there is swift action.”

“If that doesn’t happen, then quite frankly harassers are able to move forward with their careers, are able to move up, and their victims get sidelined, or go elsewhere,’’ she said.

Sexual harassment helps to fortify the so-called “glass ceiling’’ that blocks women from advancing in some organizations, O’Neill says. Dealing with such abuse “takes an enormous amount of mental and emotional energy and that pulls you off your game, so then you’re not performing at the top of your ability.’’

And the fact that Ailes’ alleged behavior took place over several years also demonstrates how much of a challenge sexual harassment is in the workplace, she says.

“Many sexual harassers are serial offenders,’’ she says. “They’re predators. … They have strategy. They know what works. They utilize a number of tactics so that they can continue with their behavior and not face consequences.’’

Workplace policies on sexual harassment are often more obligatory primers, designed to protect a company from liability in case of a claim, than rigorous efforts to prevent such behavior, some employment experts say. It would be significant if the fallout at Fox News leads to that company, and others, taking concrete steps to punish and prevent harassment in the first place.

Carlson did not sue Fox News, or 21st Century Fox, when she filed her complaint earlier this month in the Superior Court of New Jersey. Fox News has said that when Carlson signed her contract, she agreed to an arbitration clause that mandated “any employment dispute regarding her tenure at Fox News must be done via confidential arbitration.”.

“It remains to be seen if Fox News is dedicated to eliminating sexual harassment throughout the organization,” O’Neil says. “(But) whoever is at the top of the organization really needs to understand how corrosive sexual harassment is and needs to be committed to fighting it.”

As to whether more women will have the confidence to come forward, it depends on their individual circumstances. “Some might be in a workplace where coming forward still will result in retaliation, job loss and humiliation,” National Women’s Law Center’s Raghu says.

Frack U 2 Fox