Local Reporter Files Lawsuit Claiming Harassment by Roger Ailes

Many expected that the Roger Ailes mess would move down to The Firm's level and it has. 

Lidia Curanaj a Reporter at The Firm's Fox 5 in New York says that Roger Ailes harassed her when she was applying for a job at Fox News.

Curanaj, whose legal name is Lidija Ujkic, filed a 28-page discrimination and hostile work environment suit against the network’s parent company. 

The NY Times writes that according to the complaint, Mr. Ailes asked her to stand up and turn around during a one-on-one interview, so that he could “see [her] from behind.”

“I like what I see,” Mr. Ailes then said, the suit asserts. Ms. Curanaj left the interview thinking she would land a job offer, according to the suit.

Ailes had met Curanaj at a dinner in February 2011 that she attended with Gregory Ball, a New York state senator whom Curanaj had dated. Ailes brought her into the network for the interview about three months later.

After his private meeting with Curanaj,  Ailes contacted  Ball and asked him, “How’s the sex?” and whether she “put out” sexually, according to the suit. Ball described Ms. Curanaj as a “very nice girl,” signaling that she would not provide sexual favors to Ailes.

Shortly after, Curanaj received a call from  Ailes, who told her that she was not ready for Fox News and that she instead should contact Fox’s local stations, she says in the suit. Curanaj believed that she did not “receive the position at F.N.C. because Ailes determined that she would not submit to him sexually,” the suit states.

In the suit, Curanaj, 38, also claims that she has been subject to persistent discrimination and retaliation during her tenure at Fox 5 because of her age, sex, disability, appearance and nationality. She said she believes her hours were reduced, resulting in less pay, after informing supervisors she was pregnant.

Curanaj started working as a general assignment reporter at WNYW, Fox 5 in November 2011, months after her interview with Ailes.

A spokesman for 21st Century Fox declined to comment.

A representative for Ailes could not immediately be reached for comment.