Ex-Fox News Anchor Ed Henry accused of assaulting another colleague
Former Fox News host Ed Henry has been accused of assault and harassment against another female colleague.
RadarOnline.com can reveal a lawsuit from former Fox News executive producer Jennifer Eckhart that has uncovered new allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Henry.
Eckhart sued Henry in 2020, accusing him of raping her in 2017. While Henry vehemently denied her accusations, Fox News fired him upon learning of Eckhart’s claims.
After Henry was fired, Fox News said in a statement: “When Fox News first learned of Jennifer Eckhart’s allegations in 2020, Fox News immediately conducted an investigation by an outside, independent law firm, which resulted in senior management and HR Ed Henry dissolved within six days. “
On Wednesday, Eckhart’s attorney, Michael J. Willemin, filed a 39-page motion opposing Fox News’ motion for summary judgment, which included new claims alleging that Henry assaulted another female colleague while at the network worked – and further claimed that multiple staffers raised concerns about Henry’s behavior to bosses.
The motion additionally alleged that there were other instances of sexual misconduct and harassment by other male colleagues who allegedly still worked at Fox News, according to Mediaite.
Fox News repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that Eckhart “told no one about her sexual encounters with Henry” and “did not raise any complaints of sexual harassment or retaliation until after her termination from” the network.
Eckhart previously admitted that she did not tell anyone about her encounters with Henry until she was fired in 2020.
Fox News released a statement in response to Eckhart’s latest filing: “After missing their filing deadline, Ms. Eckhart’s attorneys are now desperately trying to salvage their case.
“As discovery in this case has confirmed, FOX News was not aware of any relationship between Ms. Eckhart and Mr. Henry or any allegations of unwanted sexual activity by Mr. Henry until after she left the company.”
Eckhart’s attorney argued that despite the network’s continued denial of responsibility, they “knew” that Henry posed a “significant risk” based on his past behavior and allegations of sexual misconduct, and “failed to to investigate these claims in 2017′.
Willemin further accused Fox News of creating a “safe haven for men guilty of sexual harassment and assault.”
Eckhart’s attorney noted that Henry’s past conduct included an “affair” he had with a Las Vegas stripper in 2016, which led to the network suspending him with pay and ordering him to undergo treatment for sex addiction to search.
But Willemin added that Henry’s behavior was not limited to “a single consensual affair,” but instead a pattern of “workplace sexual misconduct,” including using a network phone to participate in “a ‘sexting incident’ that the ‘DC Bureau Ed helped cover up,'” for Fox News learned about Mr. Henry’s affair with a stripper” and a “sexual relationship” with another colleague.
The motion stated: “This sexual relationship, which involved a similar and serious imbalance of power, began in November 2016, after Mr. Henry returned from suspension, and predated the rape of Ms. Eckhart in February 2017.
