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NEW YORK (AP) — An ex-producer has sued former Fox News Channel personality Bill O'Reilly, claiming he violated a confidentiality agreement related to a 2002 settlement reached over his alleged mistreatment.
The woman, Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, said O'Reilly defamed her by falsely suggesting publicly that claims against him were motivated by politics and money. Bernstein had complained about abuse, non-sexual in nature, by O'Reilly when she worked at Fox.
She said Fox and O'Reilly misled the public by claiming that no one complained to a Fox hotline about his behavior. She said she talked repeatedly to bosses about O'Reilly's actions, but there was no hotline in place at the time of the incidents. The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan.
O'Reilly's lawyer, Fredric S. Newman, said his client has never mentioned Bernstein's name in any context.
"Today's lawsuit has absolutely no merit, and Mr. O'Reilly will respond aggressively in court," Newman said.
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