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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 AND WILLIAM T. REID, IV AGAIN NATIONAL FINALISTS FOR BENCHMARK AWARDS

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.

MADDEN AND SCHWEGMANN ADDRESS ABI’S WINTER LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

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.

LAW.COM/TEXAS LAWYER FEATURES COVERAGE OF REID COLLINS’ INDUSTRY-LEADING COMPENSATION MODE

December 14, 2022 – Among the nation’s elite trial boutiques, Reid Collins & Tsai LLP has long been above the market in attorney compensation. Its salary and bonus structures are the subject of a feature Texas Lawyer article on www.law.com.
The article outlines how the firm pays bonuses throughout the year as fee income arrives, noting that “by the end of June, the 38-lawyer firm had paid out associate bonuses ranging up to $200,000. This year’s Big Law market scale for year-end bonuses generally tops out at $115,000.”
Texas Lawyer interviewed Reid Collins Founding Partner William T. Reid, IV about the firm’s unique system and how it works. “We do it differently,” said Reid. “Everyone else waits until the end of the year…. We like to pay bonuses when results occur. We had an unbelievable year and the bonuses we paid our team reflect that.”
Click here to view “Reid Collins’ Compensation System Leads to Above-Market Bonuses This Year” at www.law.com.

REID COLLINS’ INDUSTRY-LEADING COMPENSATION MODEL FEATURED IN ABOVE THE LAW

December 14, 2022 – Among the nation’s elite trial boutiques, Reid Collins & Tsai LLP has long been above the market in attorney compensation and its salary and bonus structures are profiled by popular legal outlet Above The Law.
ATL said “time and time again, we’ve seen boutique firms deliver bonuses that really pack a punch when compared to their BigLaw competition…. [Reid Collins] continues to offer bonuses that break the bank for associates…. While BigLaw firms are busy conducting layoffs due to the faltering economy.”
In covering the firm’s compensation and practice of distributing bonuses throughout the year whenever money comes into the firm, as opposed to a dedicated “year-end” bonus practice, ATL interviewed Reid Collins Managing Partner Lisa S. Tsai about why this unique system works for the firm. Tsai replied, “we attribute a lot of our success to the way we choose to pay and treat our people. From the start, our firm has been laser focused on operating as a meritocracy. We want to reward our attorneys for the good work they are doing and the results they are generating, not their law school graduation year or the number of hours they are billing. That is why a junior associate who is only two years out of law school earned a $200,000 bonus in a single bonus round this year. And that is also why we handed out $1 million bonuses to two non-equity partners this year too. In that sense, we are not simply outperforming the market scale, we are reinventing the market metrics altogether.”
Click here to read “This Boutique Firm Is Showering Associates With Bonus Bucks” at AboveTheLaw.com.

The attorney responsible for this website is William T. Reid, IV

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