Judge Dismisses Defamation Suit Against Bill O'Reilly
AAN
Per Variety:
Rachel Witlieb Bernstein left the network in 2002, following an incident in which O’Reilly allegedly screamed at her. Bernstein received a confidential settlement, and her case was among several that were covered in a New York Times article in April 2017, which led to O’Reilly’s firing.
Following his ouster, O’Reilly gave interviews in which he said he had been the target of a “political and financial hit job.” Bernstein filed a defamation suit in December 2017, in which she accused O’Reilly and the network of disparaging her. She accused the network of issuing a misleading statement, in which it claimed that no employees had taken advantage of an HR hotline without stating that the hotline was not in place at the time of her employment.
In her ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts held that Bernstein had failed to establish that she suffered any actual harm from O’Reilly or Fox’s comments.
“She neither explains how her losses flowed from the alleged defamation nor alleges any facts establishing what, if any, emotional and physical harms and reputational damage she specifically suffered,” Batts wrote. “She also does not allege the economic or pecuniary value of her alleged damages.”
O'Reilly and Fox News previously settled five sexual harassment lawsuits against the conservative commentator dating back to 2002.
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