Jason Donner, a former reporter for Fox News, has filed a lawsuit against the network. Donner alleges that he was terminated from his position due to his opposition to Fox’s “false coverage of the January 6th insurrection.”
Donner, a reporter who rose to the role of Capitol Hill reporter and producer after joining the network in 2010, was fired by Fox News in the fall of 2022. He has since taken a position as a senior adviser to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 27 in D.C. Superior Court, accuses Fox News of violating the D.C. Human Rights Act by engaging in discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Fox News has since moved the case to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Donner claims that Fox News began pushing baseless claims of election fraud after the 2020 election, leading to a toxic work environment for journalists trying to report truthfully. He alleges that he was reprimanded for fact-checking a statement by Rudy Giuliani, and that following the January 6 insurrection, the network’s reporting became increasingly biased.
According to Donner, he was inside the Capitol building during the riots and criticized the network’s on-air reporting, saying, “I don’t want to hear any of this [expletive] on our air ever again because you’re gonna get us all killed.”
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Donner also alleges that Fox News began discriminating and retaliating against him, ultimately leading to his termination. He claims that the network started circulating far-right opinion articles to shape news stories, leading to a demoralizing work environment for reporters.
With multiple defamation lawsuits against Fox News due to its coverage of the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, Donner’s case adds to a growing list of legal challenges faced by the network. The lawsuit accuses Fox News of attempting to purge the news division of staff who refused to align with the network’s biased reporting.
