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Friday, October 2, 2020

Well, that Kimberly Guilfoyle story is somethin' else...

 You know I wouldn't take a break from my series on Judge Barrett's employment law decisions if it wasn't important... or scandalous. Okay, this is not exactly hard-hitting legal analysis, but it is a fascinating look at a high profile sexual harassment allegation. 

The New Yorker published a story, The Secret History of Kimberly Guilfoyle's Departure from Fox. It includes serious allegations:

[T]he assistant alleged that Guilfoyle, her direct supervisor, subjected her frequently to degrading, abusive, and sexually inappropriate behavior; among other things, she said that she was frequently required to work at Guilfoyle’s New York apartment while the Fox host displayed herself naked, and was shown photographs of the genitalia of men with whom Guilfoyle had had sexual relations. The draft complaint also alleged that Guilfoyle spoke incessantly and luridly about her sex life, and on one occasion demanded a massage of her bare thighs; other times, she said, Guilfoyle told her to submit to a Fox employee’s demands for sexual favors, encouraged her to sleep with wealthy and powerful men, asked her to critique her naked body, demanded that she share a room with her on business trips, required her to sleep over at her apartment, and exposed herself to her, making her feel deeply uncomfortable.

Guilfoyle reportedly denies the allegations. Per the article, Fox settled for "upward of four million dollars." 

This highlights the potential dangers of subordinates working with supervisors outside of a traditional workplace (like, the supervisor's apartment). These risks will likely be heightened as we go to more and more distributed work settings (work from home, work from coffee shop, work from AirBnB, etc.). Also, it's not just men engaging in workplace harassment. 

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