Fox News has "parted ways" with contributor and former Bergen County judge Andrew Napolitano.
Napolitano's attorney said his exit from the cable news network preceded the most recent sexual harassment accusation.
Napolitano was accused of sexual harassment by Fox Business production assistant John Fawcett in a lawsuit filed against the cable news network on Monday.
"Judge Napolitano emphatically denies harassment of any type whatsoever," his attorney Michael Sirota said in an email.
In a statement, Fox News said it had parted ways with Napolitano.
“Upon first learning of John Fawcett’s allegations against Judge Andrew Napolitano, FOX News Media immediately investigated the claims and addressed the matter with both parties," the statement reads. "The network and Judge Napolitano have since parted ways. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, are committed to providing a safe, transparent, and collaborative workplace environment for all our employees and took immediate, appropriate action."
In the lawsuit, Fawcett said Napolitano sexually harassed him in an elevator in 2019. Fawcett also claimed Napolitano had been harassing other younger male employees. Napolitano was not listed as a defendant in the suit.
"Judge Napolitano's misconduct was reported to Fox's human resources department by the plaintiff and others, and senior executives were aware of Judge Napolitano's serial harassment," Fawcett said in the lawsuit, "but Fox took no action whatsoever against Judge Napolitano."
A spokesperson for Fox News denied those allegations and said the network plans to "vigorously" defend the matter in court.
Sirota said Napolitano's departure from Fox happened two months before the lawsuit was filed and described it as an amicable separation that happened "in the context of an ordinary course contract expiration."
This is not the first time Napolitano has been accused of sexual misconduct. Two men accused the former judge of sexual assault in separate lawsuits in September 2020.
Charles Corbishley, of North Carolina, said he appeared in Napolitano's court in the 1980s, facing charges of arson. Corbishley said Napolitano forced him to perform oral sex in exchange for a lighter sentence.
After Corbishley filed suit, Fox News said in a statement that "Judge Napolitano has assured us in the strongest possible terms that these allegations are false and he will fight them aggressively in court."
James Kruzelnick, a Wantage resident, also sued Napolitano, alleging that the judge sexually assaulted him multiple times between 2014 and 2017, while he was working as a waiter in Sparta.
Both suits were filed in New York, where Napolitano lives.
Napolitano previously denied both allegations through his lawyer, and he countersued Corbishley.
Napolitano served as a Superior Court judge in Bergen County from 1987 to 1995, but left the bench at age 44. He has since worked in private practice, in addition to his work at Fox News.
By: Pierce Wilson
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