A lawsuit brought against Fox News by a reporter who said the network fired him after he spoke out against its coverage of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was dismissed on Monday by a federal judge.
Jason Donner, who was a reporter and producer at Fox News for 12 years, said in his lawsuit that he had repeatedly raised concerns to his bosses about Fox’s amplification of false claims around the election and the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He said he was fired in September 2022 after calling in sick for the day, and claimed retaliation and workplace discrimination.
The judge, Amir H. Ali of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted summary judgment on Monday in favor of Fox on Mr. Donner’s claim of retaliation under the District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act. Judge Ali found that Mr. Donner had not notified his manager as early as possible that he was sick and that Fox had not unlawfully fired Mr. Donner for taking a sick day.
Judge Ali dismissed the other claims in the lawsuit in April 2024, five months after it was filed, saying Mr. Donner failed to prove he had been discriminated and retaliated against because of his “political affiliation” for not aligning himself with President Trump and did not show grounds for his wrongful-termination claim.
“When it comes to employment law in the District of Columbia, the allegation that a journalist was terminated for insisting that his network report the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable does not amount to an actionable claim,” Judge Ali wrote then.
Lawyers for Mr. Donner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Fox News spokeswoman also did not provide a comment.
Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email: [email protected]
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