Roger Ailes Wants Gretchen Carlson Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Moved to NYC

“Carlson’s attorney has led a concerted smear campaign to prejudice the rights of Roger Ailes,” Fox News CEO’s legal counsel claims in latest filing

Gretchen Carlson
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Attorneys for Fox News CEO Roger Ailes are hoping to move Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit from New Jersey (where it was filed) to arbitration in the Southern District court in New York.

His lawyers argue that the case should be handled in arbitration rather than in court, and that NYC is the right venue for the case.

If the lawsuit remained in the Garden State, where Carlson filed it, the details of the case would be public, which would give her the advantage of dragging Alies’ reputation through a public forum, Friday’s filing states.

Carlson filed suit against Ailes last week, claiming that he sexually propositioned her, then fired her in retaliation after she complained about discrimination and harassment. However, Ailes has called her claims “false” and “offensive,” and promised a vigorous defense.

“Gretchen Carlson’s attorney has led a concerted smear campaign to prejudice the rights of Roger Ailes in this case,” the Fox New chairman’s legal counsel, Susan Estrich, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, said in a statement Friday.

“Her attempt to game the system so as to avoid the arbitration clause for her client’s baseless allegations is contrary to law and unsupported by the facts. Accordingly, we have taken the following action today: We have filed papers in the federal court in Manhattan to compel the arbitration of Carlson’s claims in New York City at the American Arbitration Association, as required by her Employment Agreement,” Estrich continued.

“The court in Manhattan is the proper place to compel arbitration because (1) Carlson worked at Fox News in New York City, (2) her employment agreement requires arbitration in New York City, (3) she has based her claims solely on New York City law and (4) neither she nor Mr. Ailes resides in New Jersey,” the attorney said.

Carlson is seeking compensatory damages, including damages for lost compensation, damages to career path, damage to reputation, pain and suffering damages, and damages for mental anguish.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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