Fox News reached a settlement of around $10 million with 18 current and former employees who sued the company for racial and gender discrimination, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The settlements — none of which had to do with sexual harassment, according to CNN — were reached by Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox. The deal reportedly had a number of terms, including that the employees involved in the suit would “drop their claims, leave the network and not seek future employment at Fox News or other 21st Century Fox companies.”
A Fox News spokeswoman and Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for the employees, gave identical statements to the Times: “The parties have reached mutual agreements that resolve various cases involving former Fox News employees.”
Among those involved in the settlement are longtime Fox News anchor Kelly Wright, a former Fox 5 New York reporter, and a Fox News Radio reporter. Wright initially filed a class action racial discrimination lawsuit with other employees in the Fox News accounting department, which alleged “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination” at the network.
According to NPR, the cases emerged after multiple sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against former Fox CEO Roger Ailes and some of the network’s stars such as Bill O’Reilly.
Wigdor is still representing two other plaintiffs suing Fox News, but NPR reported that he filed to withdraw on Monday due to “irrevocable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.”