Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson sues Roger Ailes

Longtime Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has filed a sexual harassment complaint against CEO Roger Ailes.

Carlson is claiming she complained about sexism and unfair treatment several times while she was with Fox News.

Ms. Carlson, who had requested the September meeting to address “retaliatory and discriminatory treatment” she had endured, said in the suit that the hostility continued until her contract ended in June.

Carlson also talked about facing harassment prior to her TV career, when she was crowned Miss America in 1989.

Carlson, the former Fox News Channel anchor, is suing network chief executive Roger Ailes, claiming she was sacked after refusing his sexual advances. Their father Rupert Murdoch, Ailes’ patron and still the company’s controlling owner, is all but certain to reward the years of loyalty and strong annual profits the Fox News chief has offered – nearly regardless of what facts emerge. The lawsuit claims Ailes often made inappropriate comments and sexual advances, according to CNN Money.

After learning of Carlson’s complaints, Ailes allegedly responded by calling her a “man-hater” and “killer”, according to the complaint.

The complaint, which was filed Wednesday, says that Ailes fired her on June 23, which wasn’t public knowledge until now, after having retaliated against her and “sabotaged her career” in a number of ways.

On the air, Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade offer the program something of a frat house ethos.

Smith, Carlson’s attorney, said she meant to call other women who’ve alleged harrassment by Ailes to testify at Carlson’s trial. The suit claimed that her refusal to engage in a relationship with Ailes is what cost Carlson her job. “Thank you everyone, for your outpouring of support”, she wrote on her social media accounts.

The rest of the lawsuit proceeds in a similar fashion (e.g., Carlson alleges that Ailes has a habit of “commenting repeatedly about [her] legs”).

In a statement posted on her Twitter account on Wednesday, Carlson said filing the lawsuit had been hard but she felt a responsibility to speak out. She didn’t mention any of her encounters with her colleagues and bosses at Fox. “It had never occurred to me, because I hadn’t experienced it, that there were people who thought women weren’t equal to men in the workplace-much less that some men would try to take advantage of me”.

Asked whether Carlson has any recordings or other evidence, Smith said, “We are very confident in our evidence”.

“As you may have heard, I’m no longer with Fox News”.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.

Disclosure: Ailes was previously the president of CNBC.

In the past, Fox News has proved willing to settle cases rather let them fester; a former producer sued top rated host Bill O’Reilly for sexual harassment after capturing his explicit sexual come-ons on tape.