'19th Century Fox': Murdoch firm 'clearly not fit' to take over Sky, lawyer warns

Lisa Bloom, who helped to expose alleged harassment at Fox News, urges Ofcom to kill the deal: ‘This is a company that made choices against women’s rights’

The lawyer who has helped to expose the alleged sexual harassment at Fox News, ending the career of the star anchor Bill O’Reilly, has warned that the battle over workplace discrimination is far from over. “I hate to break it to you. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are going to age out of this problem,” said Lisa Bloom.

Bloom, who has been defending women in the workplace for 30 years and represents three women now suing Fox for sexual harassment, says many things have changed over her career. “People are far less accepting today of this kind of behaviour. If we get to a jury, we are going to do very well. Most companies, when you call them out on bad behaviour, are going to want to negotiate with us and give my client a good settlement and rectify the situation. Attitudes have changed, but there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done,” she told the Guardian.

But there is still plenty of appalling behaviour out there. Silicon Valley has shown that sexism is alive and well for a younger generation of “brogrammers” at Uber and other companies. And Bloom, founder of the Los Angeles-based Bloom Firm, is not expecting her company to run out of cases as ageing baby boomers retire from the workforce.

But Bloom holds a special animus for Fox News and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. The media company is not a “fit and proper” company to take over Sky, the UK’s satellite TV giant, according to the lawyer.

Bloom was in London last week to address the UK media regulator Ofcom as it considers 21st Century Fox’s bid to take full control of Sky. Bloom was accompanied by Dr Wendy Walsh, one of three women Bloom currently represents who have accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment – and the company of attempting to cover up the scandal.

Bloom agreed to keep details of the discussions with the regulator confidential, but said she and her client “were listened to respectfully, and they are taking the matter seriously”.

“The UK has been a world leader on women’s rights. I think when the UK has a choice to make between women’s equality and corporate greed, they are going to stand with women’s equality and say this company is not fit and proper to expand its interests in the UK,” Bloom told the Guardian.

“The parent company may be called 21st Century Fox, but they behave more like 19th Century Fox,” said Bloom. “This is a company that over and over again, when no one was watching them, made choices against women’s rights. They made choices to stand with the perpetrators of sexual harassment,” said Bloom.

Bloom’s view echoed that of the lawyer Doug Wigdor, who also met Ofcom last week. Wigdor, acting for 21 current and former Fox News employees, said 21st Century Fox’s takeover of Sky should be blocked until allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News had been resolved. He also called for 21st Century Fox to lift gagging orders on victims of harassment and discrimination at Fox News who reached settlements with the company over the last decade.

Fox’s previous attempt to take full control of Sky was derailed by the investigation into the hacking scandal at News Corporation, the newspaper arm of Murdoch’s empire. As in 2011, Ofcom is assessing the acquisition on competition grounds and on whether the combined company would be “fit and proper” to hold a broadcasting license.

Many financial analysts expect Ofcom will clear the deal.

Bloom said: “They are clearly not fit and proper, if those words have meaning ... Nobody has given me an argument that they are fit and proper, by the way. What I have gotten in response is that that they are a very big company and the Murdochs are billionaires. Well, that has nothing to do with it.

“This is a company that has flouted the law when it comes to women’s rights in the workplace, and I think there should be consequences for that. It’s important to teach this company a lesson that other companies will then see.”

Bloom’s visit to Ofcom in the UK comes as the US investigations into allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox are expanding. Federal investigators have begun looking at how the millions of dollars Fox paid out in settlements were reported to shareholders. They are believed to be looking at payments relating to complaints against O’Reilly and the former Fox chairman Roger Ailes, who was forced out amid another series of alleged sexual misconduct claims last July.

Bloom has also asked New York state’s division of human rights to investigate allegations of harassment and retaliation at the company, headquartered in Manhattan.

Both O’Reilly and Ailes have strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Bloom said the ultimate responsibility lay with 21st Century Fox.

“When they thought they could get away with it, they kept him, and they paid women off to silence them. The same is true for Roger Ailes. It’s only because Gretchen Carlson [a former Fox anchor who alleged Ailes harassed her], a very brave woman, publicly shamed him that he was brought down. Didn’t our grandmothers teach us that the measure of character is how we behave when no one is looking?”

In a statement, 21st Century Fox said: “21st Century Fox’s actions demonstrate its clear commitment to providing a positive, safe and inclusive workplace free of harassment and discrimination. The company’s management has taken prompt and decisive action to address reports of sexual harassment and workplace issues at Fox News. These actions have led to an overhaul of Fox News channel’s leadership, management and reporting structure, and have driven fundamental changes to the channel’s on-air talent and primetime programming lineup.

“In assessing and transforming the leadership team at Fox News, the company has been focused on its long-held commitment to a diverse workplace that promotes racial and gender equality, elevating Suzanne Scott to the post of president of programming; along with the hiring of a new female CFO, Amy Listerman, to lead the financial operations at the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. This newly instituted leadership structure at Fox News brings it closer in line with the wider practices at 21CF, where women serve as the Chair and CEOs of its Fox film studio as well as its Fox television studio and the Fox television network.”