Tucker Carlson’s sudden departure from Fox News has many speculating about the timing in relation to the company’s $787.5 million settlement of a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
The press release from Fox News said Carlson and the network “agreed to part ways,” and thanked him for his service. This “suggests that, while the decision for Mr. Carlson to leave was likely Fox News’s decision alone, the parties appear to have reached an agreement — i.e., a settlement,” said Daniel R. Gutenplan, a partner at EPG Lawyers.
“With any major media host, and certainly with Mr. Carlson, his employment was certainly governed by a sophisticated employment agreement that provided for a specific term for which he was guaranteed employment,” Gutenplan explained.
“Term employment agreements typically carry a termination provision that would allow the employer, here Fox News, the ability to terminate the agreement for cause.”
That cause may have come from the things Carlson said in emails, text messages, and depositions revealed during the Dominion lawsuit.
“Absent a mutual settlement, there would likely be a dispute as to whether Mr. Carlson’s conduct — with respect to Dominion and otherwise — is sufficient to constitute cause,” Gutenplan said.
“It appears from the press release that the parties may have quickly reached a resolution of any such claims, under which Mr. Carlson would likely have received a substantial payout in connection with his departure,” Gutenplan said. But so far, the cause of Carlson’s ouster hasn’t been stated publicly by either party.
“Just last month, one of his former producers filed a lawsuit against Fox News and Mr. Carlson personally, claiming that Mr. Carlson and his staff created a hostile work environment, particularly for women, and that Mr. Carlson and his staff frequently made disparaging remarks about women and other minority groups,” Gutenplan said. “Mr. Carlson’s conduct in connection with the Dominion suit may simply have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the network had simply had enough.”
TMX contributed to this story.
