NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 20: The News Corp. building on 6th Avenue, home to Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, on March 20, 2019 in New York City, New York. Disney acquired Fox today in a $71.3 million deal. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)
A former Fox News reporter and current congressional staffer is suing his former employer in a wrongful termination lawsuit that claims the cable news channel punished him for not hewing to the company line on the alleged “stolen election” of 2020 and the network’s resulting “false coverage of the January 6th insurrection.”
Jason Donner previously worked for the conservative outlet for over 12 years as a reporter and producer on Capitol Hill, according to the 21-page lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
“After the 2020 election, something changed at Fox News,” the complaint reads.
One of the first incidents that ushered in this alleged change, the lawsuit says, was the network being the first to report that then-candidate Joe Biden beat then-president Donald Trump in Arizona. Both the 45th president and his supporters were “infuriated” by the call, the lawsuit says, citing reporting from The New York Times.
“Facing backlash from Trump supporters, Fox News immediately capitulated to President Trump and his supporters by firing Chris Stirewalt, the onscreen reporter during the projection for Arizona,” the filing reads. “Similarly, Bill Sammon, the Vice President and D.C. Managing Editor who had editorial oversight over Fox News’ decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden, retired over criticism from network executives over his handling of the network’s election coverage.”
Fox went on to shed substantial personnel in the wake of the election. The lawsuit suggests at least 20 such layoffs were the direct result of the network accurately calling Arizona for Biden on election night. The filing also cites an “executive” at Fox who criticized Sammon for not understanding “the impact to the brand and the arrogance in calling” the Grand Canyon State the way it did.
An email from Rupert Murdoch’s heir, Lachlan Murdoch, and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott appeared to show the two discussing how Fox News viewers were “going through the 5 stages of grief” after Trump’s loss and that the Arizona call “was damaging.” The network’s CEO outlined the way forward was to “highlight our stars and plant flags letting the viewers know we hear them and respect them.”
The younger Murdoch and Scott then mused about the “process” of “rebuilding” their relationship with viewers, according to the lawsuit.
“In short, Fox News faced a post-election drop in ratings due to its calling of Arizona for Joe Biden and the network’s initial reluctance to back up President Trump’s false claims of election fraud,” the complaint continues. “To win back viewership and pledge its loyalty to President Trump, Fox’s corporate leadership purged the news division and those reporters who spoke out against claims of election fraud.”
Within Fox all the while, many journalists came to question this apparently new editorial slant, the filing says. Chief among complaints from employees were false claims advanced by Tucker Carlson about the genesis of the Jan. 6th attack. Those claims, the lawsuit says, resulted in a “toxic” work environment.
“Fox News’ reporting became focused on the unsubstantiated stolen election conspiracy advanced by President Trump’s supporters,” the lawsuit goes on. “[R]eporters were facing pressure from the top-down to push the ‘election fraud claims.””
When on-screen personalities accurately covered Trump legal campaign events alleging fraud – and noted the lack of any such evidence – they were reprimanded by their bosses, the lawsuit claims.
The filing goes on to mention several complaints lodged by well-known Fox talking heads who went against the grain over the network’s new alleged editorial line on the results of the 2020 election and the pro-Trump attack on the U.S. Capitol Complex. Those big-name stars would also be punished for expressing incorrect opinions, the lawsuit alleges.
“But the purge in the news division was not limited to the widely recognized onscreen reporters,” the lawsuit says. “It also included the on-the ground reporters, such as Mr. Donner.”
On one occasion, while covering the Trump legal team’s baseless fraud allegations, Donner tweeted about dueling claims made in-court and out-of-court by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“At this presser, Rudy Giuliani keeps claiming voter fraud in Philadelphia, but he said this to a Pennsylvania court: ‘This is not a fraud case,’” the tweet reads.
At this presser, Rudy Giuliani keeps claiming voter fraud in Philadelphia, but he said this to a Pennsylvania court: “This is not a fraud case.”
— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) November 19, 2020
Juxtaposing those two factual statements was allegedly interpreted by Donner’s superior and “direct boss” Anita Siegfriedt as an opinion, according to the lawsuit.
“Siegfriedt reprimanded Donner for the tweet, stating that Donner was not permitted to tweet his ‘opinions,’” the lawsuit reads. “Donner pushed back that this was not an opinion, but facts based on what Giuliani stated at the press conference and what he stated in a court case. Siegfriedt stated that she would ‘let it go’ but that Donner needed to be careful moving forward.”
Donner’s lawsuit claims he also pushed back, in forthright terms, about how the network covered the Jan. 6 attack as it happened.
The now-former reporter was on Capitol Hill that day, the lawsuit recalls, and he took refuge once the threat of violence became clear.
“Fox News reported that the insurrectionists were ‘peaceful,’” the filing reads. “When Donner heard Fox News’ false reporting of the insurrection at the Capitol, he called the Fox News control room and stated, ‘I’m your Capitol Hill Producer inside the Capitol where tear gas is going off on the second floor in the Ohio clock corridor, rioters are storming the building, reports of shots fired outside the House Chamber. I don’t want to hear any of this f—ing s— on our air ever again because you’re gonna get us all killed.’”
Donner’s lawsuit claims the editorial directives at Fox became increasingly based on right-wing opinion pieces. Meanwhile, Carlson began to share increasingly conspiratorial and false allegations on his highly popular prime-time show – allegedly prompting Fox’s D.C. Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton to say there was “nothing they could do because Tucker had gotten bigger than the network and was out of control. The executives could not stop him.”
All the while, Donner claims, he balked – about the network’s purported new direction – sometimes to his superiors, and sometimes to the Fox News human resources department, the lawsuit says.
In late September 2022, Donner says he called in sick to recover from the COVID-19 vaccine. The next day, still sick, but returning to work, Boughton told Donner he was fired “because he was late for work and did not show up for work,” according to the lawsuit.
“This was a pretextual firing based on Donner’s political views and affiliation, his refusal to report false information regarding the 2020 election and January 6th, and for his engaging in protected activity,” the lawsuit alleges. “Ultimately, Fox News wanted to purge the news division of any staff that would not get in line with the directive to only report information that appeases the Trump supporters and former President Trump.”
The lawsuit names Fox News as the defendant and alleges five different causes of action and seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, interest, costs, and attorney’s fees.
Donner currently works as a senior communications advisor for Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
Law&Crime reached out to Fox News for comment on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
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