Topline
A former Tubi executive filed a lawsuit against the streaming service—owned by Fox Corporation—accusing the company of gender discrimination and a “poisonous corporate culture,” adding to a string of sexual harassment and discrimination allegations against Fox in recent years.
Tubi, Fox Corporation’s streaming service, is accused of gender discrimination.
Key Facts
Sarah Ekstrom, Tubi’s former chief people officer, claims the streaming service pays its female executives 28% less than their male counterparts, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in a California Superior Court Thursday.
Ekstrom also alleges she was fired four months after voicing her concerns about how women were treated by male executives, which complemented Tubi’s “toxic culture of treating women as less capable than men.”
There were “regular complaints and incidents” brought forward to Tubi executives, according to the lawsuit, though Ekstrom’s attempts to communicate her and her colleagues’ concerns were met with “hostile and discriminatory behavior.”
A Tubi spokesperson called Ekstrom’s claims “meritless,” noting the company will “vigorously defend” against the allegations.
Crucial Quote
“It is no wonder that Fox was drawn to acquire Tubi in the first place,” Ekstrom’s attorneys wrote, adding, “Tubi is a streaming solution built in the Fox model—a poisonous corporate culture of misogyny that profits at the expense of its female employees.”
Big Number
$440 million. That’s how much Fox paid to acquire San Francisco-based Tubi in March 2020. The company has since turned down offers of more than $2 billion for the streaming service, according to Bloomberg.
Tangent
A lawsuit against Tubi joins other litigation filed against Fox News alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson sued the network’s co-founder Roger Ailes in 2016 accusing Ailes of sexual harassment. Fox settled the lawsuit two months later for $20 million. Former primetime host Bill O’Reilly settled a sexual harassment claim against him for $32 million in 2017, following allegations of harassment within the network. Jennifer Eckhart and Cathy Areu, two former Fox News employees, filed lawsuits in 2020 accusing the network’s male hosts—Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Ed Henry and Howard Kurtz—of sexual harassment. Eckhart accused Henry of rape, while Hannity, Carlson and Kurtz were each accused of gender discrimination. Areu’s lawsuit was subsequently dismissed, while Eckhart’s lawsuit against Henry is ongoing.
Further Reading
Tucker Carlson’s Wild Run At Fox: A Timeline Of The Controversies (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/05/20/tubis-alleged-poisonous-corporate-culture-foxs-streaming-platform-accused-of-gender-discrimination-in-suit/