Posted on 10/18/2004 1:37:23 AM PDT by kattracks
Edited on 10/18/2004 2:53:02 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The woman accusing Fox News host Bill O'Reilly of sexual harassment wants her life and career back, she told the Daily News yesterday.Fox News officials ordered "The O'Reilly Factor" associate producer Andrea Mackris to stay out of the office as they moved to fire her.
Mackris said yesterday she is determined to stay in journalism even as her life has been upended.
"I love being a journalist. I never expected my life to take this acute left turn," she told The News yesterday.
Mackris, 33, has not set foot in Fox News since she sued the network's star commentator on Wednesday, alleging a string of "vile and degrading" sexual advances.
She said the scandal is an unwelcome detour that has disrupted her life and career.
"Fox told her not to come in," her lawyer David Ratner confirmed. "She hasn't been in since we started meeting with Fox."
Mackris did collect her regular paycheck on Thursday, sources said, but Fox has asked a judge to clear the way for her termination.
"We have asked the court to consider whether the allegations made public by Ms. Mackris are valid," said Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti. "We have also asked the court to advise Fox News about the possible termination of Ms. Mackris' employment. Ms. Mackris is still employed by and on the payroll of Fox News."
In an explicit lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Mackris claims that O'Reilly subjected her to phone sex against her wishes on three separate occasions in August and September.
She also contends O'Reilly previously told her to use a vibrator "to blow off steam," described his "amazing" endowment and recounted dalliances at a sex show in Thailand.
O'Reilly, 55, a married father of two, has teamed with Fox to file his own suit in Nassau County. He accuses Mackris and her lawyers of a politically motivated scheme to extort $60 million in "blood money."
He called Wednesday "the worst day of my life."
Mackris and her attorneys later updated their suit to charge that O'Reilly's Nassau complaint amounts to illegal retaliation.
"My logic in not going through the quote-unquote proper channels of Fox News' legal and Human Resources departments has been borne out in the retaliatory actions toward me since I came forward," Mackris said yesterday.
O'Reilly's wife, Maureen, meanwhile, kept mum yesterday as she pulled out of the family's Long Island driveway. "This is a private road," she said.
O'Reilly has hired private security to sit in front of his tony Plandome home. "He doesn't want anyone on his property," a silver-haired guard said.
Originally published on October 18, 2004
If the tapes do exist as advertised it will at the very least show that O'Reilly was having an affair with this woman while he should have been spending time with his wife and two children.
Quick - hire a lwayer Pete!
Please notice the words at the very least
I intended for at the very least to imply that between having an affair and harassing that woman that the former would be the least problem he may have.
And under no circumstances can I condone someone having an affair.
I am going the sleep now.
Good idea.
No, I am not ugly now but will be when I roll into work at 8:00 ahh 8:30 in the morning.
Is OReilly really Irish? What happened to the Curse of the Irish..
Men are cowed into submission by the PC monster they have created in the media and the universities.
BUMP
O'Reilly is a married man...if I heard my husband talking to a woman he worked with about vibrators or admitting adultury at a sex club...I'd kill/divorce him! If this is true Bill is a hypocrite and a fraud.
Tapes or other "evidence" are irrelevant. The company had a system in place for dealing with "sexual harrassment", and she chose to not only bypass safety protocols, but to encourage the "perpetration" of said "crimes".
Yes, but that would not mean he's guilty of sexual harrassment in the workplace.
What are O'Reilly's "normal working hours"?
The only area where I believe he will be hurt is with his phoney baloney populist books.
Bingo.
"In addition, her boss at CNN (where she worked between jobs at Fox) was fired for sexual harassment. What does that tell you? "
This is very interesting. Is she a professional agitator of some kind?
If this is true; what was Bill thinking or not? What a shame because his mystery book is terrific.
Yes, the woman should have either hung up on BOR; or reported these "harassment" incidences immediately.
Yes, also, if she has these on tape it would indeed show that a married man was harassing a co-worker.
What bores me? Stories like these are a dime a dozen. And usually brought up by Democrats WHENEVER they need a diversion. Frankly, I find the female producer to be a witless wonder for a) not effectively and promptly dealing with the so-called harassments WHEN THEY WERE HAPPENING; and b) if in fact BOR was messing with her; what an idiot in taste he might have had (in addition to the possible adultery issue).
All I'm hearing through all of this is: he said/she said... and RATINGS!
I have no idea if she's a professional agitator, but think of the question if BOR is somehow brought down: Who benefits?
Frankly, I think she was just looking for a quick payoff and settlement out of court. I'm not wild about O'Reilly, but I admire him for fighting this.
It would be impossible to "phone rape" somebody. If she found these calls so disgusting, she could have hung up. If they happened at all, the fact that she didn't hang up made it consensual.
I admire him for fighting this too.
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