Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson tweeted in reaction to the network’s firing of anchor Ed Henry Wednesday, calling on leadership to remove the non-disclosure agreements of accusers and former employees.
“W/ the latest revelations about Ed Henry at @foxnews— now would be the time for Fox to release all of us (@dianafalzone @julieroginsky) muzzled by NDAs (if everything has changed as they say it has). We’ve demanded & were waiting & why created @liftourvoicesus to help others!” she wrote, referencing her organization, Lift Our Voices.
A represenative for Lift Our Voices didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment. The organization’s “mission is to create a seismic cultural shift where all current and former workers and volunteers are able to speak truth to power without adverse consequences and fear of retaliation.” It advocates for the end of mandatory NDAs.
The decision to terminate Henry’s employment was announced Wednesday, six days after the company received a sexual misconduct complaint from a lawyer for a former employee. He was suspended on June 25 according to the memo, the day the accusation was made, then fired based on the findings of an outside law firm that was retained that same day.
In a staff memo, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News Media President & Executive Editor Jay Wallace wrote, “As all of you know, in January 2017 we overhauled our entire Human Resources operation and instituted extensive mandatory annual inclusion and Harassment Prevention training which has since educated our entire workforce.”
They went on, “We encourage any employee who has a sexual harassment, discrimination or misconduct complaint of any form to report it immediately, as we have said repeatedly over the last four years.”
Carlson has repeatedly called for Fox News to lift the NDAs. She famously accused late Fox News founder Roger Ailes of sexual harassment in 2016, opening floodgates of accusations against him ahead of his eventual ouster.