Search Here

Bill O'Reilly, the feisty and opinionated crowd-drawer of Fox News was finally let go by the news channel. This came after new allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace surfaced.

Fox Made A Decision

The owners of Fox had known that Bill O'Reilly was embroiled in these legal battles when they signed him for his latest contract. The network had just settled with two of his accusers in the previous year but opted to get a new contract with the star because advertisers loved him and the network recognized that "The O'Reilly Factor" was a top-rating show. The network hoped that the controversy will quiet down, as there were confidentiality agreements when they settled the cases he was involved in, The Washington Post reported.

But when new allegations surfaced after a New York Times investigation, Fox knew that they cannot turn public opinion anymore and let go of Bill O'Reilly, after 21 years of partnership. This was also because, advertisers would not buy a spot on his show.

Racism And Sexism In The Workplace

The Bill O'Reilly controversy shone a negative light on the state of the network's work environment. There have been allegations of racism in several departments in the network where management did not act on complaints by employees, claiming that racial slurs were hurled at them by supervisors. There were allegations also, where black female employees were told to arm wrestle with white female employees to amuse their white superiors, the New York Magazine reported.

It is widely believed that the legal woes of Fox will continue even after Bill O'Reilly's departure from the network. While he was opinionated which was needed for his hard-hitting show, there was growing clamor for him to tone down his sexist remarks.

Since his manner of speaking continued in his time with the network, there is now the question what the culture of discrimination and harassment is like at Fox. Experts believe that clearly, the legal and human resources departments should have taken a look at the allegations thrown at him but treated the situation with kid gloves.