Bill O'Reilly Being Sued
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Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is being sued by one of the many women he paid off.
Rachel Witlieb Bernstein who worked with O'Reilly is suing the former host for defamation and breach of contract.
In a complaint filed Monday in United States District Court, Bernstein claim that O'Reilly and Fox News both broke a non-disparagement clause that was part of a 2002 settlement agreement.
CNN writes that Bernstein is being represented by Neil Mullin and Nancy Erika Smith, who represented former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson in her 2016 lawsuit against the network's late founder and former chairman, Roger Ailes.
"Knowing Ms. Bernstein and O'Reilly's other victims are afraid to speak out because he and Fox forced them to sign non-disclosure agreements, O'Reilly and Fox have made false and disparaging claims," Mullin said in a statement. "They should release all victims from their NDAs and let the truth out. It is cowardly to publicly attack these women knowing they have been subjected to contractual provisions requiring absolute silence."
Monday's lawsuit lists a series of statements issued by O'Reilly and Fox in the wake of an April story by the New York Times revealing that O'Reilly and the network paid $13 million in settlements to five women who accused him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. Bernstein's attorneys also pointed to O'Reilly's response to another Times story published in October, which stated that he paid a $32 million settlement earlier this year to Lis Wiehl, a former legal analyst for Fox News.
Bernstein was one of the five women mentioned in the Times story in April, which prompted dozens of advertisers to flee O'Reilly's top-rated Fox show and the network to eventually fire him. The story said Bernstein left Fox "with a payout and bound by a confidentiality agreement," and that her settlement "was far less" than the others. Her complaints against O'Reilly involved verbal abuse and discrimination.
"In fact, Mr. O'Reilly is the liar," the lawsuit says. "He mistreated Ms. Bernstein. She was forced out of her job at Fox News and paid a settlement because of his mistreatment. She did go to HR and other company executives to complain about him several times. Fox News took no action to protect plaintiff from O'Reilly. There were many witnesses to her mistreatment. She was not politically or financially motivated to raise the claims of abuse."
Frederic S. Newman, an attorney for O'Reilly, said in a statement that the lawsuit "has absolutely no merit." A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
