News

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

January 2023 – Reid Collins and founding partner William T. Reid, IV have again been shortlisted for the 2023 Benchmark Litigation Awards. For the fifth consecutive year, Reid Collins has been named a finalist for U.S. “Plaintiff Firm of The Year” and, for the fourth year in a row, Reid (the 2020 winner) has again been selected as one of four finalists for U.S. “Plaintiff Litigator of Year.”

The Benchmark awards celebrate the leading litigators and most impactful disputes across the United States. The shortlists are the culmination of months of research, surveying thousands of referees, and interviewing hundreds of lawyers. The winners will be announced at the Benchmark awards dinner on March 15, 2023 in New York City.

Click here to view Benchmark‘s “shortlist” award finalists.

Reid Collins & Tsai LLP, known for its extensive experience in bankruptcy and insolvency-related litigation, is a long-time partner with the American Bankruptcy Institute. An active participant in ABI’s educational sessions, the firm has contributed significant time and effort to ABI programs over the years. Continuing that tradition, Reid Collins partners Eric D. Madden and Gregory S. Schwegmann were featured panel speakers at ABI’s Annual Winter Leadership Conference in Palm Springs, California on December 8-10, 2022. Madden participated in a discussion entitled “Making the Most of a Litigation Trust’s Retained Causes of Action,” outlining the legal tools essential to helping trustees preserve and maximize the value of litigation claims; Schwegmann’s panel focused on UFTA/UVTA (Uniform Voidable Transactions Act/Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act) issues and the impact of recent changes in various jurisdictions.

Click here to view the conference agenda.