Fox Sports executive fired amid allegations of sexual harassment

Fox Sports has fired its head of sports programming days after launching an investigation into allegations of workplace sexual harassment.
 
President of National Networks Jamie Horowitz was dismissed on Monday, one week after several women in the company’s sports division — including on-air personalities - were interviewed about his behaviour, the LA Times reports.
 
One was a member of the production team, who alleged to HR officials that the 40-year-old had tried to kiss her at an offsite location last year.
 
“I saw him at Fox one day, and he said he wanted to catch up. He said we could meet up to talk. The hook was that he could get me more work,” the woman claimed in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
 
In an email to staff announcing Horowitz’s departure, Fox Sports President Eric Shanks didn’t provide a specific reason for the move but said everyone in the company was expected to “act with respect and adhere to professional conduct at all times”.
 
Horowitz’s attorney Patricia L Glaser claimed her client’s treatment had been “appalling” and that before his dismissal, there had been no indication from his superiors of any professional misconduct.
 
“Jamie was hired by Fox to do a job that until today he was performing in exemplary fashion,” she claimed.
 
“Any slanderous accusations to the contrary will be vigorously defended.”
 
Fox Sports’ attorney Dan Petrocelli responded to these comments in a statement, saying Horowitz’s firing was “fully warranted”.
 
This isn’t the first time a prominent personality at Fox has been the subject of sexual harassment allegations. 
 
The company fired one of its biggest stars, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, in April when it emerged multiple women had reported inappropriate behaviour from him. Five of these cases had been settled by Fox, totalling around $AUD17 million.
 
In 2016, the late Roger Ailes resigned from his role as Fox News chairman and chief executive amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations. Numerous women spoke out after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against Ailes, which was later settled for $AU26 million.