REID COLLINS FILES HISTORIC EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AND SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT AGAINST FOX NEWS BASED ON NEW “ADULT SURVIVORS ACT”
On January 25, 2023, Reid Collins & Tsai LLP filed a groundbreaking employment discrimination and sexual abuse complaint against the Fox News Network, LLC, Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., and former Fox News Co-President Bill Shine, on behalf of Laura Luhn, a former Fox News employee.
As alleged in the complaint, Ms. Luhn was subjected to a decades-long campaign of discrimination, manipulation, threats, and sexual abuse by former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes. The rampant abuse at Fox News has been the subject of multiple films, exposés, and news coverage many of which covered portions of Ms. Luhn’s alleged experiences working at Fox News under Ailes.
The Complaint includes new factual allegations as well as causes of action revived under the recently passed New York State Adult Survivors Act. This new law provides a “lookback window” for survivors of sexual assault, allowing claims previously time-barred by statutes of limitation to be brought. The law’s one-year window went into effect as of November 24, 2022.
The Complaint asserts unlawful discrimination and negligence by Fox News and Twenty-First Century Fox that allowed Ailes to continuously abuse Luhn for years, as well as claims against Shine for aiding and abetting those illegal practices.
Reid Collins partner Barbara Whiten Balliette, counsel for Ms. Luhn, emphasized the firm’s commitment to vindicating her saying: “The abuse that Ms. Luhn suffered was some of the worst imaginable. People knew, but no one at Fox News stepped in to stop it. Her career and her life were destroyed. The Adult Survivors Act was created to redress wrongs exactly like these.”
The case is captioned Laura W. Luhn v. Fox News Network, LLC, Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. & William Shine, Index No. 950003/2023 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.).
To view the Complaint, click here.
To view media reporting on the case, click on the links below:
• NBC: Former Fox News employee sues network, alleging Roger Ailes sexually abused her
• Bloomberg: Fox News Sued by Ex-Booker Over Negligence in ‘Decades-Long’ Abuse Campaign
• Los Angeles Times: Former Fox News employee sues over sexual abuse under New York state survivors law
• The Hollywood Reporter: Ex-Fox News Employee Laura Luhn Sues Network Over Roger Ailes’ Sexual Harassment and Blackmail
• The Daily Beast: Roger Ailes Accuser Sues Fox News and Trump’s Ex-Comms Director Bill Shine
• New York Daily News: Former Fox News employee files bombshell lawsuit claiming ‘severe’ sexual abuse and blackmail by late CEO Roger Ailes
• Vanity Fair: Ex-Fox News Staffer Sues Network, Former Executive Bill Shine Over Roger Ailes’ Alleged Sexual Abuse
• NPR: Ex-staffer sues Fox News and former Trump aide over sexual abuse claims
• Insider: A former Fox News staffer said Roger Ailes told her she was his ‘sex slave’ and took videos of the abuse to use as ‘blackmail,’ but the network would dismiss claims with ‘boys will be boys,’ lawsuit says
• The Hill: Fox News sued by former booker Laura Luhn over alleged ‘decades-long’ abuse
• Law360: Ex-Fox News Staffer Sues Under Sex Assault Lookback Law
• Huffington Post: Fox News Sued By Ex-Staffer Alleging ‘Decades-Long’ Abuse, Blackmail By Roger Ailes
• The Wrap: Laura Luhn Sues Fox News, Alleges ‘Decades-Long’ Sexual Abuse, Blackmail by Late CEO Roger Ailes
• Patch: Fox News Faces New Lawsuit Over Roger Ailes Sex Abuse Accusations
• Deadline: Laura Luhn Files New Lawsuit Against Fox News Claiming Sexual Abuse
• AdWeek: Former Fox News Staffer Laura Luhn Sues Network, Claims Sexual Harassment and Abuse by Roger Ailes
• Epoch Times: Former Fox News Employee Sues Network Over Sexual Abuse Allegations
REID COLLINS DEFEATS SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION IN LOUISIANA FEDERAL COURT, MOVING PRO BONO DISCRIMINATORY POLICING CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT CLOSER TO TRIAL
On July 26, 2022, Reid Collins obtained a key ruling on behalf of Teliah Perkins, a Black woman from Slidell, Louisiana, who was violently arrested at her own home in response to a minor traffic violation she did not commit. (Reid Collins is representing Ms. Perkins pro bono in partnership with the ACLU of Louisiana’s “Justice Lab” initiative.) The Hon. Wendy B. Vitter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the bulk of the motion for summary judgment of the defendants, two St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies. The Court held that the deputies are not entitled to qualified immunity on excessive force and First Amendment claims, as the facts and testimony show the violation of multiple, clearly established constitutional rights, including the right to be free from unreasonable force, and the right of a minor child to peacefully record the police in his own driveway without the threat of physical harm.
Click here to view Judge Vitter’s summary judgment opinion.
Click here to view the Perkins complaint.
Click here to learn more about the Justice Lab project.
Click here to see prior Associated Press coverage of the case.
Click here to see Texas Lawyer coverage of the ruling.
COURT APPROVES $300 MILLION SETTLEMENT OF RENREN DERIVATIVE LITIGATION – ONE OF LARGEST DERIVATIVE RECOVERIES IN HISTORY
On June 9, 2022, the New York State Supreme Court granted approval of a direct pay cash settlement totaling at least $300 million, resolving the In re Renren, Inc. Derivative Litigation – one of the largest cash settlements of a derivative action in history. (The aggregate cash payment to Renren’s minority shareholders and ADS holders may exceed $300 million depending on the final determination of the number of shares and ADSs held by non-Defendants). The action alleges a complex scheme by Renren insiders to take the company’s billion-dollar investment portfolio for themselves. Reid Collins & Tsai LLP, Lead Counsel for the derivative plaintiffs, originally announced the terms of the settlement in October 2021.
The precedent-setting case will have long term impacts for protecting investors from cross-border fraud and financial misconduct. In both trial court and on appeal, Reid Collins defeated attempts by the Defendants to dismiss the case and evade accountability, with the courts accepting Reid Collins’ arguments addressing novel issues on personal jurisdiction and standing. Facing significant legal challenges to acquire U.S. jurisdiction over multiple foreign defendants and establish derivative standing under Cayman law, these wins by the Reid Collins team have created new precedent to combat a growing problem in the financial sector – the difficulty in addressing fraud and wrongdoing by foreign companies (and related individual actors) publicly traded in the U.S.
Click here to view the press release describing the litigation and ruling.
The case and settlement have received significant media coverage:
— The New York Times – “Renren, SoFi and a $300 million settlement” (scroll down)
— Financial Times – “US-listed Chinese group Renren settles investor complaint for $300m”
— Reuters – “‘Facebook of China’ shareholders score $300 million in cross-border derivative deal”
— Bloomberg – “Renren Insiders Settle SoFi Stake Suit in $300 Million Deal”
— Law360 – “Renren Investors To Settle Derivative Claims With $300M Deal
— AmLaw Litigation Daily – “Litigators of the Week”
